The Void
by LD 1449
Summary: Minato and Sarutobi had a plan. Kyuubi's presence altered that plan. Now years later one Uzumaki Naruto finds himself ensnared in a web of murder, lies and tragedy and now must face an evil that has long threatened all of the shinobi nations.
1. The plan

I just had to write this. It's been on my mind for the last month and a half and every time I try to write a chapter this pops in my mind and distracts me. Another reason is because every time I'm about to try something new somebody magically appears with the same idea and downloads it since I'm busy with my other two stories.

As a warning this fic will not be my top priority for the time being. My top priorities are my other two (in progress) stories, _**A Twist of fate **_and _**The strength of brothers**_. So it might be weeks or perhaps even months before I update this story since I want to finish my other stories before I started this.

Well here's the first chapter to _**The Void**_

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The winters chill creeped into the office, a biting cold that prickled his skin and pained his senses with the still recent passing of the Kyuubi.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat within the confines of this office dark shadows slithering across the floor, draping him in shadows and darkness. Within his arms, he nurtured a small child. A baby boy. The newborn was sleeping soundly snuggled close to the old weary Hokage's robes and warmth. His blond hair and whisker marked face the only things visible from within the blanket carefully wrapped around him.

Sarutobi sighed softly as he gazed at the fragile thing he held within his withered bones '_Minato...you foolish boy__'_

The old Hokage stared longingly at the night sky from the balcony of his office. He looked down at the young boy and grimaced slightly. '_Little Naruto...I would say I am sorry for what I have done. But it was necessary to further our goals.__'_

A sound, no more than a shuffle which could have been associated with a mouse made the older ninja tense before relaxing. Realizing just whom had joined him "Is that him?" The person asked.

Sarutobi stood from his seat, turning to face the source of the voice. "Yes this is him." He answered before staring into the eyes that peeked out with a sliver of moonlight that shaded his features. "Is the deed done?"

His voice was a grave thing, carrying an edge of regret and melancholy, but no appology. There would never be one of those uttered from his lips if he could help it.

The figure nodded. "Yes she put up a fight, but between myself and the others we were able to subdue her long enough to use the memory altering jutsu. Kushina has no idea that she had a son with Minato. As per your orders, she merely believes they were very good friends after he saved her from whirlpool. She will be briefed the information of Minato's plan once she awakens back at my base. Hopefully everything will go as planned and we can hold off the enemy until someone else is able to fight." The figure paused before deciding to add "She's got a mean right hook though."

Sarutobi chuckled softly before gazing at the young blond. The levity of his mood suddenly gone as he looked at the slumbering child. "It…it will be tough for him…growing up."

The figure looked at the soft bundle in Sarutobi's arms before nodding sadly. "Indeed it will. Would you like me to take him? He will be able to live as a good Shinobi and I will be sure to take care of him."

"I know you would but..." The old Kage hesitated for a moment, a thought passing his mind before he shook his head and continued. "Kyuubi's presence troubles me. If the enemy were to find out that we were unable to kill it they will grow in confidence. However if they believe that we have killed their greatest weapon and still stand I am sure they will hesitate before attempting to attack us again. If he were to go with you there's a chance that they will find out. If they attack before we are ready then there is no doubt that our plans will fail."

Sarutobi looked down at the bundle, his eyes now shimmering with held back tears. "I hate to think of him like this but……Naruto is now our greatest weapon. Soon with the power of the Kyuubi already mixing with his he will definitely become strong with proper training. I have already asked Jiraiya to take care of the boy but he is still mourning for Minato and when he saw Naruto he nearly broke down. He cant take care of Naruto without taking care of himself first. Tsunade has practically vanished off the face of the earth."

A narrowed glare was his response before a hissing growl slipped through tightly clenched teeth. "If they knew what was at stake they'd train him without a second thought"

Sarutobi nodded. "Indeed. But…I cannot risk telling them. If they were to know the enemy might find the sudden change suspicious. I cannot take Naruto under my wing for the same reason. No we can only wait until he gets placed into a gennin team with a sensei. Don't worry. I shall make sure that it is one that will treat him properly

"This is foolish Sarutobi and you know it!" The Kage's company growled.

"It is the safest option or do you have a better suggestion?" He shot back, a new edge of impatience entering his tone.

The man's eyes glinted in the dim light as he glared at Sarutobi. But he soon let up, and backed off.

Sarutobi turned back to the night sky. "I am certain you are keeping a close eye on the Uchiha clan."

"Yes I am. So far I have only found one that is too strong to be a risk at falling to the enemy. However the others...they will soon turn. In about fifteen years at my estimate. The clan will slowly begin to feel animosity against you. They will join the enemy and they will seize the opportunity to take you down."

Sarutobi sighed. "Then you know what to do."

The man nodded "I will begin the preparations then."As he turned to jump away Sarutobi called out, his voice carrying a lilt of concern within it.

"Orochimaru."

The clouds parted, and the light of the moon fell onto the earth, revealing bleached white skin, and amber yellow, serpentine eyes to his old sensei.

Sarutobi hesitated for a moment, a brief flicker of some unnamed emotion falling onto his eyes before he turned away from the younger man. "Take care of yourself."

Orochimaru nodded before sparing one last glance at the sleeping Naruto before he leaped and vanished into the darkness of Konoha's night

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I CAN IMMAGINE YOUR FACES ARE LOOKING SOMETHING LIKE THIS RIGHT NOW

O0O

HHHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!


	2. The truth beneath the veil

**Orochimaru's POV**

The hallway was filled with the chuunin hopefuls. Each one, young and naieve, blind to the true dangers around them. Even the squad of gennin I myself sent here were nothing more than naive little children, their skills, decent as they may be.

I waited patiently in my corner of the room, posing as a grass gennin. My two clones stood at my side, playing the part perfectly as we waited. Soon I'd be able to dispel them and my true mission would begin in this place.

The oak doors creaked open, and in walked my target. Uchiha Sasuke. Next to him was a pink haired kunoichi, and...

Ahhh...I see...how clever of you sensei. Minato's son. I suppose I should have seen it coming with Kakashi having been Minato's student himself...still...

I take a closer look. Has it really been so long...twelve years now. He looks so much like Minato. I wonder if he'll be as strong as Minato...no...he has to be as strong...or stronger.

Carefully, I gauge him. At first glance, his chakra levels are enormous for a child his age. But that was to be expected being the Jinchuuriki of the most powerful of the nine.

But apart from that...he is...wanting. His eyes scan the room with a bright innocence, his stance is open and trusting. What has Sarutobi been doing? The boy should be more experienced than this. Or at the very least, more guarded in a room brimming with enemies.

Still, I pushed him from my mind, focussing again on keeping my chakra surpressed within this flesh shell I have borrowed. Chuckling only for a moment as Naruto screams out to the entire room that he'll "kick all our asses"

Funny. I believe Minato made the same proclamation...

He had failed his test utterly that time.

I looked to Kabuto, and the boy must have felt my gaze on him because he turned his eyes to me. I rubbed the bridge of my nose once, a silent signal, and he approached the leaf ninja. The last thing I want is for Sasuke or Naruto to die facing the bloody Ichibi of all things within the forest where none can help them. Kabuto's warning should keep them away.

I ignore the ensuing scuffle.

Minutes later the room is filled with smoke and a dozen different signatures leap to the forefront of my awareness and I find myself staring at the proctors of the exam and...ahhh little Ibiki isn't so little anymore is he?

But regardless, their eyes pass over the room, and even Ibiki's gaze doesn't linger on me for more than a moment.

They should be better than this. I'll have to talk to sensei about beefing up his training requirements. I was able to spot the legendary assassin Iga no Kumori-A**shinami** when I was their age. They should at the very least be wary of me.

Children all of them.

* * *

The two gennin tremble beneath me. Terrified and ready to flee if they felt they would be able to do so successfully. Perched on one of the great forest's massive trees, I smiled down on them, coiling my facial muscles into an expression I knew could intimidate even in this foreign shell.

I was surprised however when I felt the snake I had summoned to distract Naruto be forecefully dispelled. Had Naruto defeated it? Perhaps Sarutobi sensei had trained him better than I thought. I had not sensed a rise in demonic chakra that means he most likely did it on his own.

Interesting.

Perhaps I can see for myself just how interesting if the boy arrives quick enough.

Soon thoughI extend my neck, gathering chakra into the proper proportions onto the tips of my now, longer fangs.

The rustle of leaves, and the subtle vibrations in the air alerted me to our guest before he'd even launched his attack. He had good timing but not much else. No stealth, mediocre accuracy, and certainly no sense of biding his time. If I were any other ninja and I would have bit Sasuke I wouldnt have had time to avoid that hail of Shuriken. Instead, he tried to stop me entirely.

As the old saying goes. _"Go after two hares and you shall catch neither."_

He is loud and foolish, taking a stance and boasting instead of pressing the attack, stupid...what has Sarutobi sensei been doing? Sucking his thumb?

"Here!" I suddenly heard, bringing my eyes back to Sasuke as he pulls out their scroll. His eyes were wild and filled with terror. A desperate act of a boy who didn't even conceive of the fact that I may be a ninja that would just kill him regardless of scroll or no scroll.

I said nothing to discourage his little fit. Instead I lazily raised my hand to catch the scroll. Before it reached me however, a blur of orange caught my eyes, and Naruto, I found had snatched away the scroll from the air. His body language tense and laced with anger. As he turned to face Sasuke I saw a brief flash of crimson in his eyes...apparently the boy didn't handle cowardice well did he?

So much like Minato...fool boy.

I molded the chakra within me, as I formed my handseals** "****Kuchiose no jutsu" **The ground shuddered beneath my feet, lurching forward as the smoke cleared beneath me, revealing a giant snake that towered over the children.

It was slightly surprising to me however as I saw Naruto rush to the attack, heedless to the danger, or simply uncaring of it.

The boys strength could be likened to Tsunade, the snake recoiled from his blows, the sounds of the impacts dying away in the surrounding darkness as they rained with the heavy claps of thunderstorms that shook my bones.

Impresive...but not nearly enough, I soon beat the boy back, and turn my attention to Sasuke, my expression once again twisting itself to reveal gleaming teeth. "Well now Sasuke-kun, lets see how you perform.

With those words said my snake rushed the young Uchiha boy. I was hoping that the little boy had enough of a mind to get out of the way. His life was useful but not entirely necessary, and if he was so paralized by fear that his survival instincts were nullified to it then he was useless to me.

Before my summon had crossed even half the distance however, Naruto sprang forth, his speed a blur that caught me off guard. Terror gripped me for a moment, a blinding fear encasing my heart as I realized there was no way I would be able to command the beast to stop in time.

My fear proved itself to be unfounded however, as the massive beast, slammed to a dead stop as if he'd hit the reinforced village wall, the stop was so sudden I nearly fell off myself.

My my my Naruto...aren't you proving to be a surprising little ninja.

Still. As interesting as you are. I have a mission to accomplish. I extend my tongue, the rough muscle coiling around his upper torso before pulling him upwards, raising his shirt as he struggled.

Minato's masterpiece is bare before me, glowing bright as it pulsed over his stomach. A perfect containment seal in every sense of the word.

Except for this one weakness.

"**Gogyou Fuuin!"**

The chakra dies away and Naruto's eyes flutter closed, body limp. Unconscious.

Now let me finish giving the Uchiha the curse seal so I can get the hell out of this place.

* * *

Sarutobi sensei's body lays at my feet. Unmoving. Blood, trailed from his lips, onto the cold floor. Seeping between his teeth as he smiled.

A wide, hopeful smile that seemed to outline every wrinkle and blemish on his aged skin in a strange light. Relief was the emotion I saw there, mingled with...trust...forgiveness...and understanding.

My arms, burned at my side, the flesh becoming black and brittle in the wake of sensei's attack. But it was little compared to the agony that blossomed in my chest

And as I saw the death god, vanish wordlessly into the netherworld, sensei's soul and my arms in tow, I found my gaze returning to his still form, numb and uncaring to the surrounding chaos, even as those I had named "The sound Four" called to me in harried panic.

I wish I could have learned one of those ellusive, Space time abilities. A way for me to freeze everything. Or perhaps even return. Do things differently.

Even knowing that sensei had asked this of me...it left a bitter taste in my mouth.

But alas. I do not have such techniques...nor do I have the time to dally all day with my own regrets. The barrier dissipated, and I called the retreat sparing one last glance at Sensei's still, peaceful form before I made my escape.

'_Goodbye Sarutobi sensei.'_

_

* * *

_Tsunade glares up at me, chocolate brown eyes as fierce as I'd ever seen them. So long it has been hasn't it?

You hate me now? Don't you Hime? You hate what I've become. As does everyone in Konoha. On some level perhaps you may even blame me for what has happened to you dont you?

Perhaps that isnt unfounded...perhaps if I had stayed...remained ignorant, to the world around us, around Konoha...things would have been different. Perhaps I would have been assigned to the mission with Dan, or Jiraiya, or another ninja that was free that day because I was carrying on some of the mission loads.

So many possibilities.

Like the one I put before you just a moment ago. I wonder if you'll take it.

Its tempting is it not? My arms, for your long lost loves? The two people you've cried yourself to sleep for years over,while drowning yourself in Sake and your vices to escape their very memory.

My heart clenches within my chest as I think of how painful it will be to kill you should you decide to take it.

You are needed alive...but more importantly you are needed strong. If our enemies can hold this over your head as I do now...then you are useless to us...And I can't use you. Sorry Hime.

I watch in silent dread as there is a moment of consideration in your eyes. A second in which you reveal just how much I this offer affects your judgment. I am, allegedly, one of Konoha's greatest enemies and you are still willing to consider it...to give me back the hands that killed sensei.

I cannot do this...not yet...you were always a heat of the moment kunoichi. Something I berated you for constantly when we were younger. I need to leave before you let this "heat of the moment" seal your fate. Consider it a mercy Hime...

I tell you to think about it. Granting you a leering smile before I vanish in a cloud of smoke. Kabuto at my side. I pray, and hope with all of what remains of my heart that you will not take this offer. That you do not become another notch on my bloody tally of kills.

Do not be another fool Tsunade...

Or I will kill you...As painful as it may be...you will leave me no choice...

I will kill you...

* * *

The Rasengan was a technique I had long ago lauded as one of the greatest close range assasination ninjutsu that had ever been made.

Unlike Kakashi's hailed "Raikiri" Or its B rank variation "Chidori" this technique, not only did more damage, was quieter, but also did not require for the wielder to rush their opponent with such speed the tunnel vision would make it virtually impossible for a non doujutsu user to wield it properly.

Even incomplete, it was a technique that could easilly kill a man with, even a glancing blow, let alone a full hit.

Such was my respect for the technique that Minato created, that I never even thought of learning it. It never even crossed my mind. It was Minato's technique, and Jiraiya's by proxy, their signature.

Oh there is little doubt that I could do it within a few days of training. I am a Sannin after all and renowned Ninjutsu specialist throughout the world including forbidden techniques which are much, much much more difficult than the normal ones, obviously.

But I never did learn it, as useful as it would be. And other than Jiraiya, I figured the ability would die with Minato himself.

So...I was reasonably surprised when Kabuto found himself on the receiving end of said technique. And the perpetrator of said technique was only a twelve year old boy.

Your son indeed Minato...

I looked over to Tsunade, then to Naruto, and then to the Kusanagi blade I held with my tongue.

It was a gamble but it was the best way to see if Tsunade was truly worthy of sensei's old position; Jiraiya being here could only mean that after all. That they were seeking her to become the next Hokage.

If they were going to indeed give it to her...then she would have to pass my own test before I let her take Sensei's place. She would not be allowed to half ass it.

With a sharp kick that connected solidly with Jiraiya's chin I lunged for the now unconscious blood, planning to shift the blade at the last possible moment to avoid a fatal blow.

With a blur however, I found Tsunade in front of him, my blade slicing deep into her upper back instead of Naruto. I smiled slowly. An upturn of my lips that went unnoticed amidst the chaos even as she turned and backhanded me with that monstrous strength.

Look's like I wont be forced to kill her after all.

* * *

**Normal POV.**

The rain beat against him sheets of water falling and soaking him completely. His silver hair fell down over his neck and face, droplets of moisture falling from his drenched hair and trailing down his mask.

He rushed through the trees at top speed, the wind that coursed around him from his speed chilling him to the very bone. But he paid it little heed, focusing entirely on reaching his destination. The residual chakra that lingered in the air giving him a sense of foreboding.

Were they alive? Wounded? Were they dying right now? Were they both already dead?

He pushed himself harder, faster, the trees blurred into nothingness and he merely focused on which branch he needed to jump to next.

As he burst through the tree line his eyes scanned the valley floor, merely a passing notice to the destruction around him.

His lone Sharingan did a clean sweep of the valley floor before it finally zeroed in on one of his students. At this distance, merely an orange and blue blotch on the valley floor. He leaped through the air, powerful legs giving him the propulsion needed to reach the blond's side in a single bound.

He reached forward, checking his vitals, sighing in relief as he felt the steady pulse of a beating heart beneath his fingertips. Pakun trotted up behind him, flat face and wide eyes as somber as ever.

"Strange that they would have their confrontation here. Don't you think?

"Yeah." The copy ninja responded, not wasting any time before he scanned the blond for injurries. Finding none, he allowed himself to breathe again, now taking a moment to scan the landscape, wondering if Sasuke's broken body would be found under some of the rubble. Another question...for another time...right now he needed to work on preserving the one was certainly still living.

He wordlessly moved to pick up his student when a voice...familiar and dangerously calm spoke up from directly behind him.

"Step away from the boy Hatake-sempai."

* * *

There's nothing different yet about the general layout of the revised chapter two in comparison to the original. Merely better descriptions, a sharper layout and a more dichtonomous Orochimaru rather than the predictable one of before. I hope to be able to get a much darker feel, particularly in the S class good guys like Orochimaru and his other two cohorts for those that are only reading this story now.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it.


	3. The attack

Well here ya go. Been a week since my last update, regardless here it is, hope you enjoy it weather you've read the original story or not.

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"Step away from the boy Hatake-san"

The voice was cold, guarded, and Kakashi felt a chill crawl up his spine that wasn't caused by the chill of the rain. Ever so slowly he turned, praying to whatever deity in existence that this was some kind of sick prank Naruto had somehow pulled on him. (Promissing to pummel his student into a lump of black and blue if this was so, but not trusting his luck to be that good)

And as he turned the gods proved themselves vindictive against him indeed as he found the apathetic gaze of Uchiha Itachi's sharingan staring back at him, his usual bored indifference shining through just as easily as Kakashi always remembered.

He was thankful that he'd already had his sharingan uncovered. He doubted the Uchiha would give him the luxury of time to do so. Kakashi knew that Itachi was a ninja that had long ago surpassed him in skill and raw power, even without his Mangekyo. There was little chance he could succeed here in a straight fight.

But all he needed was a moment...a single moment where he could knock Itachi away, or distract him enough to pick up Naruto and run. He was sure that if he really pushed himself, he'd be able to match, or perhaps outrun the Uchiha entirely. Konoha was a mere three miles away. He didnt have to worry much about pacing himself.

It was a good thing Kisame wasn't here.

As if the pranking god himself decided to pick this day of all days to pick on little old him, Kisame's form rose up from the depths of the river, a swirl of water beckoning his arrival, gleaming, shark like teeth, giant sword and all with his apparel.

Kakashi suddenly felt so very very small.

This made it official. God hated him. God truly hated him. There was no other explanation for this. His luck was bad but it couldn't be _that_ bad. No one could have luck that was this bad.

Yup...this was all god's fault.

"Hehehehe" Was the wordless chuckle that shook Kisame's shoulders. Warily Kakashi turned multi collored eyes onto the man before quickly averting them to the equal, if not greater threat of Itachi.

"What do you think Itachi-" Kisame began, hand reaching for the hilt of Samaheda. "Dismemberment or pinning him against the wall before we gut him like a fish?"

Itachi didn't answer his partner instead he looked to Kakashi, jerking his head once to the side. "I would suggest Sempai that you leave now."

Kakashi's eyes crinckled upwards into a smile. "Oh. Okay then. I'll just take Naruto with me and-"

"Leave the boy here Hatake." Itachi drawled.

_'Cant say I didn't see that one coming.' _Was Kakashi's thought before he took a protective stance, hovering above Naruto. "Mou...so sad...well I cant just leave him with you Itachi. You'll corrupt the poor boy."

Though his tone was light his eyes carried a hard gleam. He hoped this little small talk wasn't too obvious as a stall tactic. A desperate prayer that reinforcements had been sent or that perhaps some kind of team was returning and would stumble onto the scene.

Then again god did hate him...maybe praying wasn't such a good idea.

Itachi sighed, tiredly rubbing the bridge of his nose as though speaking to a petulant child. "Sempai...I will not ask you again."

All traces of humor or lightness left Kakashi's masked vissage, the sharingan's tomoe spinning slowing in his eye. "You'll have to get through me first Itachi..." He drew a kunai, tightening his stance.

"Ever the arrogant Kakashi." Itachi said with something akin to a roll of his eyes before he gave some unseen signal to Kisame, who began to stalk forward like a lion cornering a zebra.

The Uchiha looked to Naruto, past Kakashi, who refused to move even as the massive man began his approach.

The boy's heartbeat was a flickering thing, and Itachi would have sneered in distaste if the action was worth anything. Alas, neither he nor Kisame knew any medical jutsu. So taking the boy now would prove...troublesome. Perhaps even fatal to the boy before they could get him to Konan, or any medical personel...hmmm...Perhaps he should allow Kakashi to take him back.

But no...no...couldn't do that either...at least not without some kind of insurance. The moment Kakashi reported that he and Kisame had come for the boy Konoha would keep the Jinchuuriki under a tight lockdown. Maybe not even let the child leave the village in and of itself. And if they did it'd be with Jiraiya. Who was more than capable of holding them off while Naruto made his escape. Hmmm...so what insurance could he have?

Hmm...Ahhh...perhaps...

As Kakashi was bodily removed from Naruto's side, and Kisame continued to do an exceptional job of occupying the Sharingan wielders attention. Itachi stepped forward.

It was with an almost languid pace that he did so really, thoroughly unconcerned with Kakashi, even as he could sense the man doing his very best to get around Kisame in order to strike him. Alas, Kisame was quite fast for his size, and whatever speed he may have lacked he more than made up for with Samaheda's sheer reach.

He knelt down at the boys side reaching slowly for his eyelid before gently opening one, allowing dull, glassy blue to stare listlessly up at the raining, gray sky.

Placing two fingerprints onto a pressure point along the base of his neck the Uchiha sent a quick spark through his system, the minor jolt, dancing along the Uzumaki's nervous system and finding the synapses of the boys eyes that jerked him to the land of consiousness if only for a brief second.

One second was all he needed after all.

"**Tsukiyomi."**

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The world was dark. Dark...and everything hurt. Naruto wasnt sure when, or how he got to this place. All he knew from the moment he could think and feel and recognize this place is that he wanted to get out of it. He opened his eyes, finding shadows of blood red liquid seeping out of unknown walls, taking shape before distorting themselves and vanishing again.

What had happened...the last thing he could remember was...

...Sasuke...he had been fighting Sasuke...where was that bastard? He'd promised Sakura he'd bring him back.

He struggled to his feet. Sharp agonizing pains ripping through every limb and taxed muscle in his body.

Finally, he made it. Standing on legs that he felt would abandon him in a second if he so let them. He leaned forward, hands on his knees, struggling for breath in air that was too thick and too hot to be natural.

Just what the hell was this place?

"Interesting."

The voice had him swiveling around with a startled yelp. Tripping over his own feet to back away. He found himself staring up at the shadow veiled immage of Uchiha Itachi.

"Wha-what the-Sasuke's bastard brother?"

"As eloquent as ever I see. Still. The effects of the Tsukiyomi I see are somewhat weaker on an unconscious mind. It took me much longer to find you than I expected.

Naruto didnt know what the hell he was talking about. But what he did know was that the shapes around him were becoming sharper. More defined in shape. No longer mere blobs of inky black and bloody red.

He didn't know the specifics of this thing...but he knew one thing. Whatever this was, he wasn't causing it, and so only Sasuke's bastard brother could be doing it. And whatever Sasuke's bastard brother was doing it most likely was not good for him. He is a bastard after all.

With this in mind, his hand swirled with a Rasengan. Itachi watched lazily, raising a single, perfectly groomed eyebrow before giving something that vaguely resembled a scoff.

And Naruto found himself hoisted into the air, hands and ankles tied, putting him in the position of a crusified man.

"What the hell!!!" He yelled startled before he began struggling in his bonds

Suddenly, there was a sharp, agony racing up his arm and Naruto bit down a scream in his throat. Eyes clenching themselves shut as his pupils shrinked to thin little pin pricks before they finally opened, trailing carefully to look at the kunai that was currently dug deep into his bicep, held there by a bored Itachi.

"As I said...it took much longer to find you and for that be grateful that you need only endure twelve hours of this." As he said this. Itachi's gaze never shifted, never revealed anything that could be discerned by his victim. Only unflinching apathy.

With that said a dozen spikes of pure black leaped from the shadows around him, impaling the young gennin through various parts of his body in the span of time it took him to shut his eyes in reflex

"Be ungrateful however that I intend to make full use of those twelve hours"

Never before had he screamed so loud

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A fist smashed into Kakashi's jaw, sending the copy ninja tumbling through the harsh, unyielding gravel. The sound of footsteps alerting him that Kisame was not done with his assault. He got to his feet, flipping with his hand to do so. He threw several Shuriken at the charging Kisame, only for the shark man's massive Samaheda to bat the minuscule projectiles aside.

With a flare of chakra, the hidden tags within said kunai detonated, the force of the unexpected blast making Kisame stumble for a moment.

The copy ninja needed no other opening.

Bright chakra lit up the valley floor, lightning racing up Kakashi's entire arm in a deafening screech that would make nearby civilians believe their heads were being split open by the high pitched sound.

"Raikiri!" He yelled, as he charged headlong for the off balance Kisame, praying his attack would strike true and he'd be able to fight Itachi one on one. Get him away from Naruto.

For a moment, he watched Kisame's eyes wide with shock and disbelief, then, with his precognitive Sharingan...he saw that expression shift to undiluted glee, and too late was he to avoid the iron grip that seized his wrist and dislocated his entire shoulder from the harsh and abrupt stop he was forced to before Kisame threw his attack into the ground, burying his arm wrist deep into the granite of the valley floor.

Then Kakashi's face was introduced to Kisame's foot. The sheer force breaking his arm as it forcefully dislodged it from its place in the ground and sending him crashing into the valley wall in a tangled heap of limbs.

The copy ninja groaned, a dizzying nausea gripping him as bone marrow seeped through his severed bone and into his bloodstream. He'll have a fever later that was for sure....That is...

If there was a later...

Kisame chuckled, mirthless and cruel as he stared down on the copy ninja, grinning with gleaming white teeth as Kakashi slowly pulled himself to his feet, using the crumbling stone wall for support.

Blood, trailed down his face from a seeping gash across the side of his head, mingling with the rain that still drenched them from head to toe.

"I give ya an eight outa ten Copy Cat. You would have had me if you were fighting some weakling like Deidara." The monster of the mist chuckled again, resting his massive sword over his shoulder. "Wanna go for another round?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Itachi blinked slowly at the sobbing boy at his feet, his body still shivering with aftershocks of pain as he hugged himself. Though within his mind scape he was fully healed almost immediately after the blades were removed the pain remained long after the wound itself had vanished.

The Nuke nin that had slaughtered his family felt no empathy for the boy...no pity. He himself had been through worse...much worse. Physical injuries and pains, such as the ones he had inflicted on the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki was merely a minor danger of the ninja world. There were worse things...

He reached down slowly. Watching as the boy flinched away from his touch before Itachi forcefully grabbed a handful of his hair and began lifting.

He hoisted the Jinchuuriki into the air, ignoring his violent kicks and writhing attempts at an escape, fists collided against his ulna in a desperate little struggle Itachi found quite bland and tactless.

The Sharingan spun in his eyes and Naruto froze in his movements, tear streaked blue staring into bloody hell before the Uchiha spoke.

"Now...listen to me very carefully..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kakashi didn't have time to answer the rhetorical question before Kisame's massive fist grasped his face and smashed the back of his head against the valley wall, sending stars racing along his vision, mind a disoriented jumble of thoughts involving pain, Naruto's safety, pain,a half formed thought on escape, pain, another half formed thought of attacking with a kunai using his free hand, and...oh...did he mention _pain_?

His remaining hand reflexively reached up to grasp Kisame's wrist, and before he could gather his wits to anything more than that, the Nuke nin pulled back, and slammed his head against the wall again.

Kakashi went limp, only vaguely hearing the S class criminals taunt as he chuckled. "This all ya got copy cat? Gotta say I'm disappointed."

"Kisame." The Kiri swordsman paused, releasing the bleeding Kakashi before turning back to the now standing Itachi. "Yea?" He asked.

"We leave. Stop toying with Hatake. Let him be" The Uchiha said simply before vanishing in a cloud of smoke.

Kisame's lip curled in distaste. "Oh...sure _'We leave.'_ He quoted with a grumble. "Nevermind the kid is right here and we can just grab him. _'Let him be'_ He says. Cryptic bastard...kick your ass soon enough little Uchiha bra-"

"I can still hear you Kisame."

The Kiri nin paused before grumbling quiet-_er_ to himself, placing his sword on his back again before vanishing in his own Shunshin, leaving behind a battered Kakashi who was slowly coming to and a traumatized Jinchuuriki.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Again, not much difference between the layout of this chapter and the first ones, just going for better and more detailed descriptions for the time being since there's not much in the beginning I think needs to be changed. The next chapter should have some more noticeable changes from the original however. With added scenes and additional screen time for Hana which we didn't see in the original for a few chapters after this one. . Anyway hope you enjoyed it.


	4. The illusion

"Heard you got your sorry little asses kicked."

Kiba's head snapped to the doorway, vision swimming for a second or two with the quick movement before his eyes came into focus, finding his sister standing at the doorway, wolfish, teasing grin on her face.

His face twisted in displeasure, and an angry retort soon found its way to his lips. "We were fighting Orochimaru's guards you-"

"Excuses excuses!" Hana proclaimed, airily waving off his statement with a hand gesture before she stepped into the room. Looking him up and down, she hid the frown of worry as she looked over the bandages wrapped tightly around his torso.

Kiba grumbled something indiscernible but certainly not at all flattering of his older sister as she took a seat beside him.

"So!" She said, rather loudly. "Give me everything. Tell me all the juicy details. I wanna know everything there is to know about my little brothers first 'Epic _Failure' _of a mission.

Kiba's eyes narrowed, disbelief crossing his features before he shook his head, glaring at Hana as she put her feet up on the bed. "Fuck you! We didn't fail! Me, Lazy Bones, Fa-Chouji," He amended hastily before he let the dreaded 'F' word slip. "White eyes and Naruto managed to kill Orochimaru's private bodyguards."

Though outwardly showing no surprise the Inuzuka woman felt her heart skip a beat or two at the mention of the legendary criminal.

Not seeing the desired reaction of shock on his sisters face, merely the same, expectant boredom that had decorated it since she sat down, he flatly continued. "You know who that is right? S-class criminal. They explained it in the books. Little leather bound things with paper inside of em Open from left to right. Sometimes from right to left. With little words that you can use to do something called readi-Ow!!!"

Cutting off his sarcasm with a rather hard flick to the boys sensitive nose she leaned back in her chair. "You may continue on with the story." She drawled.

Kiba vaguely wondered what his chances of success were at strangling his sister if he lunged from the bed right now without warning.

"And try not to move too much You'll open the stitches and get blood all over my new sandals.

"Gee...Didn't know you cared sis!" He hissed as he rubbed his nose.

"Oh but I do care Kiba. My sandals mean so very very much to me." She paused then opened her mouth in a quiet O of realization. "Oh you mean about you...nope...you and your continued health are of little consequence."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tsunade stared down onto the mission report, gaze hard and facial muscles tight as she struggled not to let her lips curl back in a snarl as every gruesome detail was passed through her mind

Her anger was a seething, palpable thing as she then turned her eyes onto the two medical files on the side of her desk. One belonging to Hatake Kakashi, the other belonging to none other than Uzumaki Naruto.

Kakashi she could deal with. Little more than second rate concussion due to blunt force trauma to the back of the head, a cracked rib or two along with a broken Ulna, Radius and sprained wrist.

In short. He'll live.

Naruto however was in a much more delicate state. He hadn't woken up since Kakashi managed to limp through the village gates with the blond slung over his back. How the copy ninja was able to get him into that position in his state and with only one functioning arm she would never know but that was a discussion for a later time.

Uchiha Itachi...Apparently the vindictive little genocidal sociopath hadn't been at all merciful in his encounter with Naruto.

She could imagine that the technique he used on Naruto was none other than his infamous Tsukiyomi genjutsu of the Mangekyo Sharingan.

She had been able to heal the damage done to Kakashi and Sasuke when they had suffered the horrors of the twisted plane of that illusion, however Naruto was proving to be much more difficult to extract from his dream world.

She didn't know if it was because of the Kyuubi, the fact that he was apparently unconscious when Itachi used the technique on him, or perhaps that because both Kakashi and Sasuke had the Sharingan they merely had the means to recover easier from the after effects but whatever the hell it was it was royally pissing her off.

She'd even called Inoichi in to try his luck in traversing the boys mind scape.

She was still waiting to hear back from him.

And so that's what she was doing now...the waiting game...

And what a horrifying game it fucking was...

She sighed tiredly, letting the mission report fall from her hands and land on the desk where she rested her forehead on her fists. She wasnt reading or paying attention to it anyway. It was probably a stupid one too.

She sighed tiredly. "Naruto..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Would you perhaps mind explaining to me your reasons as to _why_ we didn't take the brat back at the valley..." Kisame bit out before his expression shifted to one of curiosity, his next words coming out more towards himself than towards Itachi "Even though I don't really know why they call it a valley...its more like a canyon."

"Because-" Itachi began only to be interrupted by the shark man as he continued to think aloud.

"I mean think about it. A valley is a wide flat plane between a formation of mountains. The so called "Valley of the end" place is just a gorge between two sheer cliff faces. That's practically the definition of a canyon. In that case it should be called "Canyon of the end" don't you think? And if that doesn't appeal to you maybe something to do with that waterfall there. Hmm...Waterfall of the end. Waterfall of eternity. Waterfall with the two big statues. Canyon of doom. Waterfall-"

"Kisame!" Itachi snapped.

"What? Oh right. Yea why didn't we grab the kid back at the va-Canyon!!!" He corrected himself with a harsh shake of his head that name was grammatically incorrect. He should have it amended somewhere.

"Because..." The Uchiha began again with something akin to a sigh of exasperation. "He needed medical attention. How do you think arriving on base with his corpse would have turned out."

"Messy." The Kiri nuke nin answered after a brief moment of contemplation.

"To say the least." Itachi finished.

They looked onto the village beyond the trees, the sounds of life amidst the flourishing spring sun an almost idyllic, stark contrast in comparison to their darkened ensemble.

"Sooooo." Kisame began slowly. "When do we go in to get him?"

Itachi didn't answer before slowly sitting down on the tree branch, single leg dangling beneath him while he cropped up his other leg to rest his outstretched arm on his knee

Kisame watched him sit raising a non existent eyebrow, lips pursing with something akin to an impatient snarl before he spoke. "Yes Kisame. Let me answer you, not ignore you as if you're stuck to the freakin-"

"We're not going in. He's coming out." Itachi answered as though he were speaking to a petulant child.

Kisame blinked, eyes rolling skyward as though considering the Uchiha's answer.

Finally he shrugged. "Works for me. I'm gonna go get something to eat. Good luck waiting until Konoha rolls us the red carpet for his capture. And invites Kakuzu to be the head of treasury and myself to be head of the diplomacy committee."

Sarcastic line delivered the Kiri nin vanished in a swirl of smoke, leaving behind an exasperated Itachi behind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The walls were murky and dank. The boys mind scape was a cesspool of decay. It was somewhat disturbing. Inoichi had seen various types of landscapes within different minds, and certainly there were those that were darker, and fowler than the rotting shell he could see laid out before him.

But those had been men, aged and calloused by the scars of time. Not a child whom had just become a teenager. He wondered if this was the Kyuubi's influence. If the fox had somehow tainted, on some unconscious or base level, the boys mind. Despite the popular belief that he was allowed to walk free of scrutiny the child was tested yearly upon his birthday as he slept.

These of course were carefully planned procedures with both himself, members of the Hyuuga clan, and the Uchiha when they had been available. Always was he kept asleep, by both illusion and the added insurance of sleeping drugs within the ramen Sarutobi would buy him during the evening. Only within this last, recent year had they not done it. With Tsunade arguing vehemently against the practice.

Though some opposed of course, he himself saw no hint before, and after twelve years well...he was fairly certain it was safe to believe the fox would be under firm control.

Of course, he had never delved this deeply. Mere surface thoughts and memories, never to the base foundations of himself. Delving this deep was dangerous, to both the one using the technique, and the recipient. The wielder could end up lost if he was not careful, wandering farther than he should and thus, leaving imprints of himself behind, or perhaps even taking a piece of the subjects own personality with himself. And of course the recipient could suffer several ill effects to the mind itself, one which may and usually did lead to death.

But Inoichi was confident in his skill, and had used this ability many times on captured enemy ninja, ones who's mental defenses and mazes were much more complex than this, often these complex structures being the results of seals to protect the mind. Or more specifically the information within it.

If the seals were tampered with externally or any of the "traps" set off, the information, and perhaps even the invading mind would be destroyed alltogether.

As such, one boys mind, one, undefended, was not something he did not have confidence in mastering.

But still all the same...while there was no physical or conscious taint on the boy, but this...development within his deep psyche was not normal. And if he could, Inoichi would request to the Hokage and Naruto himself that the boy come for weekly visits for a psychological evaluation.

Pushing those future plans away from his mind however Inoichi trudged on, through the sloshing, black water and fungal infested walls. There were many passageways within this maze of pipes and shattered, twisted metal, old memories. He ignored them however, so as not to intrude and merely sought out the strongest resonance of the child locked within his own mind. That was the cognition. If he reached it, and could coax it out of the child then he could awaken him, hopefully with few long term repercussions.

The water level seemed to rise steadily as he drew closer, having reached his ankles before, the black, sickly liquid was now reaching the cusp of his knees, sloshing with every struggled step.

The darkness creped in around him, slowly, as if seeking to latch onto him and anchor him within this place.

Pushing through the dimly lit tunnel Inoichi soon found what he was looking for, and he could not fight away the horror that came forth at the sight.

He was hung from the wall...crucified, black trails of blood flowing down from the wall and into the water below, weeping from the incisions that nailed him high above the ground.

A sickening thought came to Inoichi suddenly and he looked down to the dark water beneath him, slowly raising one foot, he saw the glistening reflection of the dim light through his lower leg, dark...and red.

"Oh..._God!!!_" He yelled, horrified and suddenly feeling far too sick as he realized what he was standing in.

"Horrible....isn't it?"

Inoichi's eyes snapped upwards, feeling his breath hitch as he found none other than the infamous Uchiha Itachi standing within the dark liquid, cloak shielding his body from sight.

Inoichi's first instinct was to flee, or at the very least take up a fighting stance, but realizing that this image was merely a mental construct, utterly harmless to him, and he to it, he allowed himself to breathe again.

Then he began thinking. The cog's in his mind turning slowly as he realized this construct could only be one of two things. The first, being some sort of mental projection or tormentor Naruto's psyche itself made. Or...Something Itachi left behind...

There was a simple question that could answer this.

"Who are you?"

"Ahh Inoichi-sempai. You know who I am. We worked well together in that Iwa incursion."

His stance tightened with unease. So....it was something Itachi left behind. A subconscious construct wouldn't know Itachi's mannerisms so well. What's more. Itachi _wanted_ him to know that this creature was of his make. He was making it obvious.

"What do you want here Itachi?"

The Uchiha raised an eyebrow... "Want, sempai? Oh no. I've already fulfilled my purpose here. Rest assured that you may take the boy unacosted. For now at least."

As if waiting for the nuke-nin's unspoken command the blades that held the Jinchuriki onto the wall shattered into a million tiny pieces. Naruto fell forward, limp and unmoving.

Inoichi rushed forward, catching the child before he fell into the dark blood at their feet, gasping at the glazed, sightless blue orbs that stared up at the ceiling

Itachi marched over to the older man's side, almost amicably before he spoke. "You know what you must do."

Inoichi looked behind him, towards the source of the voice, only to find the Uchiha nowhere in sight, the unmoving body still limp in his arms as he sat within the sea of blood.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

There was silence in the hospital room, thick, almost oppressive with nothing but the low thrum of the building's air conditioning system to fill the void of sounds.

Finally, a low, appreciative whistle came from the brunette as she looked to her brother on the bed, who carefully took measure of her reaction through squinted eyes.

"So you guys managed to kill those Oto-nin huh?" Hana questioned with a scratch of her cheek.

Kiba smirked, the familiar, cocky grin of his spread from ear to ear. "Not bad for a bunch of gennin huh!"

Hana nodded slowly, lips pursed in a contemplative manner before she raised her hands, emphasizing her next words with hand gestures. "_Epic_-_Failure!!!_"

Despite the palpable anger and murderous intent she felt suddenly rolling off of her brother Hana couldn't help but laugh at his purely outraged expression!

"We-"

"Beat a couple of enemy nins" She interrupted with a wave of her hand. "But your prime objective still got away didn't it? Therefore-" Here, she repeated the hand gesture. _"Epic-Failure"_

She had never seen someone physically have a conniption. But the way Kiba was looking at her now made her wonder if she'd finally be able to bear witness to one.

Alas, she didn't want to be responsible for him rupturing a blood vessel or something; so before he could attempt to physically reenact the, no doubt, homicidal thoughts running through his mind she decided to stand up, walking to the closet where the hospital staff kept the wheelchairs, chuckling as she did.

Opening the seat infront of his bed she smirked at his still sputtering visage. "Come on little bro. Your mission may have been a total failure but I'm guessing you wanna go see some of your friends instead of sitting here all day."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Tsunade-sama" Shizune hesitantly spoke, entering the office with an uncertain countenance. Watching as her long time friend and mentor opened a single eye to glare at her between the cage of fingers that was currently holding her face.

Swallowing thickly the brunette continued. "Inoichi-san is back from the hospital."

The response spilled from the blond womans lips before Shizune had even finished her sentence. "Send him in."

Shizune gave a quick, single nod before she turned and strode out of the room, leaving Tsunade glaring at the red oak door as it closed behind her, daring Inoichi to take even a second longer than she deemed necessary to pass from the reception hallway to her office.

Finally, the door opened again, and the Yamanaka clan head stepped in slowly, as if checking to see if it was safe for him to do so, and his head wouldn't be blown off by some strange fireball or something.

"Well?" She questioned.

The Yamanaka cleared his throat with a cough, nervously entering the office as he debated wether or not he should sit or remain standing. He choose standing, seeing ad how it would allow for a quick escape. "Tsunade-sama, in my assignment to enter the mental plane of-"

"Speak plainly." She groused, nearly snarling in her impatience.

Inoichi sighed. If she wanted him to be blunt he would be. "Itachi left an imprint of himself within Naruto's psyche."

Tsunade's fists clenched as she clasped them together infront of her mouth, narrowed eyes offering the only indication to the rage that boiled beneath the surface of her guarded expression. "You mean to tell me...That Itachi could have been torturing Naruto's mind...for nearly two days?!"

Inoichi quickly shook his head, knowing that she was no doubt under the belief that these two days might translate into the Tsukiyomi time scape, in which case Naruto would have been under physical torture for...years, in which case his mind would have been completely broken beyond even the greatest of healers or ninja to mend, which was not the case.

"No, I do not believe Itachi's imprint would have any power to cause nearly as much pain or control as his legendary illusion. But while physical pain may have been absent, psychological is not out of the question."

Tsunade breathed out a heavy breath of frustration and anger, rubbing at her temples and no doubt promising retribution onto the raven haired nuke-nin.

Inoichi paused for a long moment, waiting for the woman's permission to continue, but, seeing her lost in her own thoughts he decided to continue regardless.

"It appears, that...with the absence of Itachi's imprint, which is now gone, I have made certain, Naruto's psyche is beginning to recover on its own. From my estimations it will be a day or so more before he wakes. At which time I would suggest, an immediate psychological evaluation. I myself am willing to do this Tsunade-sama."

"What do you think the test will show?" She questioned, weariness lacing her tone.

"To be frank. After these events Naruto may not be, psychologically fit for service, either through terror of being captured by an enemy, or even fear of combat in and of itself. And that would be in the best case scenario."

"And the worse case scenario???" She ventured, though it was with wariness.

Inoichi debated whether or not he should attempt to soften his next words but, in the end figured that the woman needed to hear it so that she may prepare herself for the possible outcome.

"Severe paranoia, thoughts of suicide, night terrors, crippling physical or emotional responses to memory triggers, dementia...the list goes on."

The woman closed her eyes, letting his words wash over her like ice water. She gave no outward response, but inwardly, she cringed at each of these suggestions and possibilities she herself knew all to well in her own mind.

Finally, she breathed a slow sigh and stood leaning on her desk as she looked at the blond infront of her.. "I suppose all we can do is hope for the best then. Thank you Inoichi...you may leave."

The Yamanaka patriarch nodded once, solemnly standing before bowing and marching out of the office leaving the sannin behind, wallowing within her own thoughts.

XXXXXXXX

Well...I've been missing from the scenes for a rather long time.

Reason for that is because several months ago, a virus wiped out virtually all of my text files. And thus, by proxy, deleting every half finished update I had in my text files. Which included this story, the massive update of nearly fourty something pages I had for Lost soul, the equally Massive update for God from the machine, and a fifteen page half completed update for Pecado.

So understandably after that event, I was not eager to jump right back in and rewrite the nearly hundred and twenty page total that I had lost (this is not including unpublished works and school projects.) So, only recently have I picked up the proverbial pen once again and mannaged to write up this piece. Not sure how many of you are still reading but her. I intend to finish one way or the other. Cant promise how long it'll be before I get out another update but hopefully I'm back in my proverbial chair so I can work on it steadilly.


	5. The Escape

Well here I am again. Hope you all enjoy.

* * *

Hana's smile was wide as she pushed her younger brother through the hospital hallways, reaching the reception desk of their floor, the young Inuzuka wasted no time in loudly voicing his query. "Yo nurse, where's Akimichi Chouji's room eh?"

The woman scowled at the boisterous young ninja, hissing a sharp "Shhh!" That almost made Kiba wince before he bounced right back. Loud as ever. She wondered if they'd kick his ass out if he was loud enough. Medical necessities or not.

"I'll shut up when you tell me what I wanna know!"

"Young man." The woman snapped in a harsh whisper. "This is a hospital!"

"I didn't ask you for an update on the obvious lady I asked you where Chouji's room is!!!"

The woman turned her gaze onto Hana who was staring at the ceiling. Biting the inside of her lip to keep from laughing. Her brother could rile up a saint in a heart beat. Seeing him piss people off was always entertaining.

That and she already knew where Chouji's room was.

Unfortunately the woman wasn't nearly as stubborn as Hana had thought. And folded early. Cutting her little game short. She fought the urge to pout.

"62B. Now keep your voice down!"

Kiba grumbled something under his breath. Something Hana was fairly certain was not exactly _polite_ to the nurse.

Ignoring it however the brunette pushed them down the corridor towards the designated room.

Reaching the doorway Kiba was practically bouncing in his seat as the two could hear the sounds of laughter already within the room.

"Ya hear that sis!" Kiba questioned rhetorically. "Chouji's fine!!!"

Walking around the chair to open the door the older Inuzuka chortled to herself. "Didn't know you swung that way Kiba."

Catching the clueless look on his face Hana smiled as she counted down the seconds it would take him to realize the implication.

_...5..._

_...4..._

_...3..._

_...2-_

"**Fuck you!!!**" He bellowed resisting the urge to give the shushing nurse at her desk the finger as he glared at his sister.

In response Hana only laughed as she finally opened the door and pushed him inside.

As Kiba growled and snarled at his older sibling the two were welcome by the somewhat bewildered looks of Chouza, Chouji and Shikamaru as they walked into the room. Having heard the recent profanity in the hall.

"Hey guys!" Hana said jovially, ignoring her _snarling_ younger brother. "Just brought Kiba around to see you guys since his nagging was getting annoying."

"I was _not_ nagging!!!"

And so began Shikamaru's first headache of the day.

* * *

The systematic bleeps of the heart monitor droned on and on. The only sound in the entire room save for her cleaning it.

It was quite dull. And the young blond haired boy lying in the middle of the bed did nothing to appease that. He was just laying there, eyes closed, muscles relaxed. He looked like he was dead rather than asleep.

The nurse sighed quietly to herself. Passing the vacuum under the bed before she finally deemed the cleaning portion of her task done. Standing to her full height. She arched her back, cracking it with satisfying little snaps before she allowed her eyes to once again pass over the sleeping blond.

Walking over to the side of the bed after arranging the nearby chairs. She leaned down, picking up the child with a grunt of effort before depositing him on the previously arranged chairs. Turning around, the woman then proceeded to change the bed's sheets.

Layer after layer of white cotton was peeled away, along with a quilt of fuzzy blue polyester before being immediately replaced by clean, fresh ones.

Now looking back to the boy she once again leaned forward and picked him up. Placing him on the bed she arranged his pillow, placed his head on it and threw the sheets over him to shield him from the ridiculously cold hospital temperature.

Then, leaving quietly the woman closed the door behind her and proceeded to the next room to continue her rounds.

The moment the doors closed however, Naruto's eyes slowly opened. Staring up at the ceiling above him for several moments the young Jinchuuriki bit his bottom lip as moisture gathered behind his eyelids...

He knew what he had to do...

He knew what he had to do...

* * *

Hana sank deeply into the surprisingly comfortable leather couch held in Chouji's room. True she was stuffed between the arm rest and Chouza's massive bulk. But other than that. This chair was made for people to fall asleep in.

That, and after the initial happiness (though she would never admit it) at seeing her younger brother beaming with pride and joy as he laughed and talked with his two friends, had evaporated into a pleasant contentment. She was now decidedly bored.

She wanted to go out and do something but with her mom on a mission and animals not allowed in the hospital she was really the only family that could keep Kiba company. And she knew from experience how bad it was to be in a hospital with no family to keep you company. Friends were all well and good but family was family.

So here she would stay, from morning till night until for the next three days until their mom got back from her mission. After that Tsume could dote on Kiba all she wanted Hana was gonna take a break lest she finally strangled her brother. Which...she didn't doubt he was going to tempt her to do...many many many times over these next three days.

Just as Hana felt as though she could relax the door to the room opened. Beckoning in Sakura and Ino, the latter of which was consoling the former apparently given Sakura's dejected and sad body language and Ino's tone of voice as she rubbed the pinkettes back.

"Hey don't even worry about it. I'm sure Tsunade-sama's just keeping that knuckle head under lock and key because she's fussing over him. You know how close she is to him."

Smiling, Sakura offered a nod of agreement, though anyone could see that it was a forced thing.

Everyone except for apparently Ino, as she turned to face the room's occupants. "Hey guys!" She yelled, ignoring the hissed "Shh!" Breathed in from the hallway.

"Hey Ino, Hey Sakura!" Chouji greeted, smiling at the two girls as both girls walked closer to the bed and hugged him in greeting before turning around and doing the same to the others.

Finally as the two girls took up their place of choosing within their semi circle Kiba spoke up. "So what's up with Naruto? Why's Sakura all moody like she's a sad drunk."

"I am _not!_" The Pinkette yelled, regaining her usual flare in the face of the insult.

"What makes you think we were even talking about Naruto Anyway." Ino added. Huffing as she crossed her arms for good measure.

"You mentioned a knuckle head." Shikamaru deadpanned.

Ino held silent for a moment as Sakura again looked sullen. "So?" She ventured once more with her vehement tone. "Its not like we don't know any _other_ knuckleheads in the village. I know you!"

Staring at the blond with exasperation Shikamaru sighed as he rubbed his temples. "Yes of course. Since oh so many are friends with Sakura and Tsunade our Hokage at the same time as well..."

Ino looked away, refusing to admit that Shikamaru was right.

From the sidelines, Hana watched with one eye half open, fighting off sleep, while Chouza looked on in interest.

The Nara boy leaned back in his chair, propping one ankle on his knee while Kiba picked up the conversation from there.

"So what's up with blondie? I mean...now that I think about it you mentioned Neji was recovering Shikamaru but you never mentioned Naruto."

"That's because I didnt know anything about his condition." the shadow wielder replied, still leaning back in his chair. "When I went asking the nurse said Naruto was in a special sealed off section of the hospital. Top priority clearance. She ouldnt tell me if he was injured, critical, stable, recovering. Nothing!"

"That's what happened to us too." Ino piped in.

**"What!?"** Kiba and Chouji both yelled at practically the same time. "Why didn't you tell us!" The Inuzuka continued.

"What would that accomplish?" Shika said with a shrug of his shoulders. "You guys would only worry and still not be able to get in. What part of "Top priority clearance" didn't you get?"

As the youths continued their argument Chouza and Hana exchanged a look as Hana yawned and stood marching to the door and speaking over her shoulder as Chouza followed. "We're gonna get something to drink guys we'll be back." Which was thoroughly ignored by the still bickering teenagers.

Finally, outside, Chouza and Hana marched a good distance down the hall before they spoke. "That's odd isnt it?" the Inuzuka began.

"Yea." Chouza answered. "The sealed off ward is only used for catatonics and coma patients."

"Could it be that the Kyuubi kid was knocked into a coma?" Hana asked, sitting on the top of a metal trashcan as Chouza leaned against the opposite wall as he shrugged in response.

"Anythings possible. But one of the reports Kakashi conducted on one of his teams earlier missions indicates the Kyuubi heals the kid."

"Can it heal brain damage???" Hana asked with genuine interest. Brain damage was easily the most untreatable of 'injuries' one could receive in the line of duty. If the fox could even heal that then the kid would have one hell of a long career.

"I dont know...but..." Chouza said bringing a fist up to his chin. "Now that I think of it...Inoichi was summoned by the Hokage about two days ago. No mission scroll was given. And Inoichi didn't really feel like talking about what the mission was about."

"Maybe Inoichi was hired to evaluate the kid." Hana ventured, to which Chouza nodded.

"Makes sense. If anyone can evaluate brain damage it'd be a Yamanaka." The Akimichi admitted. Pushing himself off the wall he spoke. "I'm gonna look into this with Inoichi. That Naruto's a good kid. Someone should at least take an interest in his well being. Tell Chouji I was called away will ya?"

Hana nodded. "Sure. As long as you give me some updates on what you find out." Offering a wry smile she continued her sentence. "You know us Kunoichi just love to gossip."

Chouza chuckled as he began to leave. "Sure. Say hi to your mom for me when you see her."

Waving over his shoulder Chouza disappeared down the nearby stairwell and soon enough Hana began to return to Chouji's room.

* * *

Tsunade breathed a sigh of exhaustion as she fell back onto her chair. Tossing the last of the files onto the stack at the end of her desk.

She was done for today.

Glancing over at the old clock that hung from the side wall she huffed as she looked at the time. 11:48. The moon bathed silver light through the curtains of the office, and the night time sounds of the village were beckoning her to a comfortable bed with clean sheets and a nice, fluffed pillow.

But she couldn't. Not yet. There was still one more place she needed to go.

Standing, the blond reached for her jacket, grasping the thicker material before placing it over he shoulders, pulling it tight around herself before she stepped out of the office.

Finding Shizune sitting at the receptionists desk pouring over her own share of the paper work before her presence brought the brunettes attentions away from her work.

"I'm done for the day." She said, almost daring Shizune to dispute her. "Whatever I didnt do I'll get to tomorrow."

To her slight surprise however, Shizune merely nodded in response.

Vanishing in a cloud of smoke Tsunade soon enough reappeared in the hospital. Not surprised by her sudden apparance the nurse at the desk stood and bowed. "Tsunade-sama."

"I wont be staying long. Just came to check up on him."

The nurse nodded, sitting back down and turning her eyes back onto whatever she had been reading before.

Marching down the hallway, Tsunade soon found herself infront of the familiar door. Pushing it open after a moment or two, her entire body froze at the cusp of the doorway.

She took in the entire length of the room, pushing down the panic that threatened to claw its way up her throat.

The bed was empty... She glanced around, eyes scanning the interior before she rushed forward, into the room, and pushing the bathroom door open, shoving the curtain of the shower aside.

The room was empty. Naruto...wasn't here....

She didn't waste another second.

"**Anbu!" **

**

* * *

  
**

Hana stretched languidly on the surface of her own couch as she fought to work out the kinks of her somewhat sore muscles. Sitting all day in the hospital until visiting hours were over was more taxing than a full day of training. Cramped spaces, uncomfortable chair, her loud younger brother. Yea, she deserved a break.

Absently she stroked Kira's crown, one of her three dogs, and the only one that wasn't currently outside playing. Rather, lounging around here in the house next to her.

She sighed, a breezy exhalation as she sank deeper into the soft leather of the couch

Her break however was interrupted rather abruptly by a loud banging on her front door. Jumping to her feet, kunai in hand, the young chuunin narrowed her eyes at the offending source of noise. No one did this in a clan's private compound unless there was an emergency.

Marching slowly to the door, she carefully reached out and opened the doorway with the hand that held the kunai, parting the wooden portal to her home, she kept the kunai safe from the intruders eyes. Finding herself staring at a leaf bearing Anbu, owl mask hiding his face.

"Hana-san." He greeted respectfully. "I will be blunt. There is a situation which requires trackers. Top priority. We need you and any skilled trackers of your clan to come to the Hokage tower immediately.

Hana blinked. "Ummm...Ok." She said, realizing that with her mother gone, it fell to her to lead the clan in her absence.

Bowing once, the Anbu vanished in a cloud of smoke. Looking to the panting Kira in the hallway she gave her orders. "Find Mayuri and Komui. Tell them to bring Tetsu and and Sano. I'll go find your two brothers."

Giving a happy bark Kira strutted off allowing Hana to shake her head, wondering just what the hell this emergency could possibly be to demand the best trackers of the Inuzuka.

* * *

Beyond the great walls of the leaf village Itachi watched the proceedings within with keen eyes. Anbu and ninja moved around too and fro hidden from the civilians but not from him.

They were searching for someone.

And he knew what.

But the problem was...he himself didn't know where Naruto was. His clones and raven thralls were scattered throughout key points of the village. Feeding him information...not one had yet to see the blond.

This...wasn't good.

As if to further annoy the Uchiha, it was then that Kisame announced his return with a loud burp, toothpick precariously digging through his massive fangs for whatever food was caught between the gleaming razors the man called teeth.

* * *

The mud beneath his feet squelched loudly, pulling him down as the vacuum of air fought to be filled as he trudged on through the muck filled tunnel.

Dressed in nothing but a pair of shorts he'd managed to take from the hospital's laundry room, he felt disgusted as the cold, clammy mud seeped through his toes.

Naruto bit his lip in apprehension even as he continued marching down the hall. Could he really do this? Could he really just...just leave.

He was leaving behind much more than just his village. He was leaving behind his dream, his sanctuary...his...friends...He would be declared a missing nin...an outcast. To be hunted and branded forever a traitor to the village...

But he had to do this...he had to...it was the only way.

The overhead lights cast dim shadows across the floor. The tinted yellow bulbs creating a bleak environment that only further sank the Jinchuuriki into his depression.

Finally, he found it, the halfway marker, a leaf insignia posted at the top of a metal pole. The only one for the next two miles until he reached the exit.

He looked to the right, marching over to the wall he tapped on it twice, then, shifting his fist, he tapped again on a different spot, listening to the hollow thrum of a secret compartment behind the wall.

He tried pushing the thing first, only to feel the dismal muck beneath him hamper its opening. Then, when his efforts continued to ring with futility. He marched to the oposite wall, turned around, and slammed himself full force into the resisting wall, shoulder first.

The metal hinges gave a groan of protest before snapping in two with metal chinks before the pieces fell onto the muddy floor with dull plops.

Now, pushing the rest of the door aside. Naruto could look around the room, Standard ninja equipment hung from the walls, preserved with special seals from the moist envirorment it was stored in. Kunai pouches, stocked full hung from the wall, along with basic clothing, a few sealing scrolls and rations.

The Sandaime had shown him this place. A hidden escape tunnel burried deep beneath the village. It ran through the entire length of the Hokage mountain, opening up beneath a waterfall three miles north of the village. Ji-Ji had said that only he and Naruto knew of this passage. And was to be used only in the most dire of emergencies that required for him to evacuate or leave the village.

He had laughed then, telling the old man that he would never leave his home...

Looks like that wasn't the case...

He understood now...that the old man, more than anyone had understood just how much danger being a Jinchuuriki really was.

_'I owe you old man.'_

Grabbing the various weapons and clothes, Naruto used a nearby water canteen to wash off his feet before placing them in shoes that fit him two sizes too big, and clothing that was equally large on his small frame. But he didn't let it bother him. He could get something else outside the village when he got out.

And so, marching back down the dark tunnel, satchel bag of rations and equipment in hand, Naruto left the village hidden in the leaves.

* * *

"So." Kisame began cautiously. "Where exactly is the kid Itachi?"

Taking a deep breath, it was with no small amount of distaste that the Uchiha muttered his next words.

"I don't know."

* * *

Well here ya go. Not a great many changes save for Naruto's means of leaving the village. Which, to me make more sense than the half cocked means I used before in which Naruto managed to basically get away from three S class nin.

I figure Sandaime, would give Naruto the means to escape the village given the various reasons his life would be in danger. The Kyuubi, knowledge of his heritage getting out, and the most recent being the Akatsuki.

Anyway, there will be a few more changes in the next chapter. Hope you all enjoyed it RnR please


	6. The fool's luck

Well, here we are...again...its been a while but I make no apologies, real life takes precedence over my FF writing. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it though, it is admittedly filler-ish (as will be the next two to four chapters that follow this one)

* * *

The sun rose over the village of the leaves in a fiery orange. Its blazing light spreading across the entire sky like a great blanket of flames.

The reddened sky made the dirt of the village seem red as well, teeming the entire city in a haze of rust that was strangely soothing to Tsunade with its earthen look.

She stood at the base of the monument, hands clasped behind her back as she fought to retain her calm. An anxiousness gripped her which she only just managed to hide, wringing her hands continuously behind her back as she fought the urge to pace.

Where the hell was Jiraiya when you needed him?

The search had been going on all night...the Inuzuka's said that he had left the room probably five hours before their search had begun.

Five hours of wasted time. Five hours that the stupid, stupid blond had gotten a head start on.

Five hours that he'd been missing and no one bloody knew.

A grunt behind her immediately brought Tsunade's gaze over her shoulder where the Inuzuka girl, Hana, her dogs and several of her clansmen stood. Their faces and attire speckled with muck and grime from their treck through the tunnels.

She looked around, seeing that they did not have the blond. "I assume..." She began carefully, her tone guarded. "That you found nothing."

Hana grunted, pulling off a small cloth face mask that had shielded her mouth and nose from the stench of stagnant, still air that had stifled the lower chambers. While also shielding her from the mud that had been kicked up, though a smear of it still scuffed her forehead and the ends of her hair.

"You assume right." Was her response stuffing her hands into her pocket. He was there all right, but the mud's covered up a lot of his scent. After he got out of the tunnel the trail dissipates into almost nothing. All we can smell is earth. Which, as you imagine there is an abundance of."

The young girls sarcasm was irritating to the Kage but not entirely unjustified...and more so. Tsunade knew that the anger wasn't directed at her, not really. Just the fact that they'd trudged through what, judging from the state of her, once white dogs, must have been absolutely deplorable conditions.

Looking down the length of the mountain to the entrance of the tunnel The Hokage fought the urge to growl. "I didn't even know this place existed." She admitted, eyes narrowing in suspicion. "How did he?"

"Could he have dug it out himself?" One Inuzuka put forward making Hana roll her eyes. If he would have been in range she would have smacked him upside the head.

"Don't be an idiot. God knows how many hundred yards of perfect tunneling, with lights, support beams and nearly an apartment's rent worth of equipment? The kid couldn't afford this. He'd have to be working on it since he was three."

Tsunade nodded, realizing that the only two viable explanations were either Sarutobi, or Jiraiya.

Sarutobi didn't tell her...since being dead would limit his means of communication and Jiraiya may very well have forgotten about the damn thing.

If that was the case she may just forget how to fix a broken neck.

The Inuzuka male from before, nodded his agreement. "I guess. Still the kid thought this through. My guess is that he used his shadow clones to spread out his scent. Maybe having them Henge into other people in order to keep it discreet, ran them around the village, the hospital. He tied us up in the village for an hour till we found the real trail. He stacked the deck. He knew what he was doing. This wasn't just spur of the moment."

Tsunade cringed inwardly. He was right. Naruto knew what he was doing. He executed a plan of escape, that implies forethought, and that also implies that this entire thing was pre-meditated. Maybe even before he went out for that mission where he fought Itachi. For someone to just wake up from a coma and think all this through without slipping up somewhere is nothing short of unbelievable luck, or an incredible amount of talent or levelheadedness in the face of duress.

Long story short, getting him off the hook would be difficult, if not impossible.

She had to act fast, move before this could get out of hand.

Looking to the Inuzuka she gave her next orders. "Go home, get cleaned up, gather your supplies and I want you back through that tunnel and searching for him within the next two hours."

The three tracker ninja nodded once before they took to the rooftops, their dogs following on the street below as they headed back to their compound.

Deciding that she would get little accomplished in front of the monument, she began her dreadfully long walk back to the Kage tower with troubled thoughts.

* * *

As for Naruto himself, the blond currently found himself sitting on the branch of a tree, its massive bark barely giving a creak at the hundred plus pounds of weight added to it.

Legs crossed, he held a map infront of him, trying to make heads or tails of the bloody thing.

He thought that he was pretty close to figuring out which way was which. All he had to do was figure out what that cross thing on the bottom right was. And what the N, S, E, W meant.

After that he was sure he'd get it down.

* * *

Miles away, east of Konoha, Itachi sighed once through his nostrils, already working to stave off the headache that, he was sure would come once he opened the communications.

Still, headache or not, _he _needed to be informed.

Standing off to the side, Kisame smiled widely despite their situation. Itachi was not one to make mistakes. But every time he did Kisame found he could not help but relish every single moment of his failure, knowing the little brat had been taken down a peg.

That and he could bring it out later in one of their arguments.

_'Well 'I' wasn't the one who lost the Kyuubi kid was I? Mr. 'I'm so cocky he'll just come to us'. Let's just leave, even though we could have taken him at the Canyon of doom!!!'_

Ahh yes...he would save that ammo. Bring it out when it really counted.

He was already enjoying his imagined vision of Itachi's expression when he eventually brought it back up again. That look of anger, narrowed eyes, a small twitch between the crease of his brow and forehead as he contemplated murdering him.

Ahh yes...Good times.

Pulling a scroll from his cloak's inner pocket Itachi unrolled it with a flourish, spreading it across the ground, revealing the dark runes that were spread over its surface before he knelt, placing one hand on its surface before channeling chakra through the construct.

The runes glowed once, and the Uchiha stepped back, waiting for a moment before he spoke.

"We have a problem." He began carefully, breathing once more, as if bracing himself before he finished his sentence. "We've lost the Uzumaki."

Moments later, chakra began to seep from the runes, manifesting itself into a corporeal shape , slightly transparent, it clearly took the form of a human however, and soon enough Blood red Sharingan stared into serpentine gold.

"What?!"

Naruto frowned, eye twitching as he continued to stare at the map, marching through the slick, wet grass that covered the forest floor, growing more and more frustrated with each moment that his efforts at making heads or tails of the useless piece of paper bringing him no closer to understanding it.

"Oh come on! Cant you just say Konoha is here and you want to go here!!!" He yelled, pointing into one spot of the map so violently with the kunai he'd been using the blade punctured a piece of it. Snarling, he crumpled the map in his hands with a huff before tossing it away. He didn't even know where he was going. Still, shrugging, he decided he'd just walk until he got _somewhere. _And decide where he'd go from there. He never really was one for planning.

As he took a breath, walking slowly through the green forests in mud caked clothing he shifted his bag on his shoulder. His ears twitched, finding the crisp sound of running water, marching a bit further, he followed the sound, peering through the underbrush, he smiled when he saw the river several dozen yards ahead.

"Awesome!" He cried, lunging through the trees, head first before landing on the rives edge, crouched on all fours like one of Jiraiya's toads.

Looking into the crisp waters he saw that it was just deep enough to harbor fish, and that, indeed there were two or three fishes trying to swim upstream a few paces into the glassy surface.

"_Alright, I'll just catch two of these and keep them for later. That food in the closet sucked." _The blond thought, trying not to dry heave at the memory of the MRE's dry cube nutrients that tasted more like drywall paste than actual food.

Of course what he didn't know was that, that single bite from the tasteless MRE had been just enough to restock his bodies nutrient stores and energy reserves. He may not have even made it half as far as he did without having taken it.

To him, it tasted like freakin toilet paper. Fish tasted better. Therefore. Fish is what he would eat. Simple.

* * *

Back in the northern borders of Konoha's dense forests, Hana and her team stalked slowly through the trees, their dogs ahead of them, sniffing the ground and air with almost, robotic tenacity.

The clan steward craned her neck upwards, wincing a bit as her eyes were stung by a spear of light that pierced the overhead canopy.

She sighed. And to think she could be at home right now, languidly stretched out inside of her warm bubble bath. A silk sheet bed waiting for her outside with air conditioning and deserts along the refrigerator just downstairs.

She sighed.

The Hokage wouldn't mind if she throttled their target before bringing him back would she?

* * *

Naruto smiled, holding onto a single, decent sized fish with both hands, his teeth gleamed with the bright sunlight as he slowly turned around, marching towards his equipment where he would deposit the fish before diving right back in to catch the next.

He came up short however, when he found someone kneeling over his bag, hands rummaging through it with an air of casualty that was more insulting than the act.

"Hey!!!" Naruto yelled , sloshing through the water in a rush, glaring at the top of the man's head.

The man turned to look at Naruto at the sound of his voice, blinking for a moment before he casually began to put everything back into the bag. "Oh I am sorry. Was this yours."

"Hell yea its mine!!! Who the hell are you!!!" He yelled finishing his run across the water where he finally reached the rivers edge splashing and sprinkling the intruder with the droplets of moisture.

"Forgive the misunderstanding then, leaving equipment, alone and unguarded, out here, that simply means that if you can take it without being detected, you may keep it." He said calmly before he held out the bag for Naruto to take.

"I was guarding it." Naruto defended , grabbing the bag with a vicious snatch before he opened it and began looking through its contents, making sure everything was there.

"Yes...clearly you were, since I've only been sitting here for the past four minutes before you noticed me."

Naruto blushed, embarrassed but unwilling to admit it as he stuffed the fish into the bag. He glared at the man, finally taking full stock of his appearance.

He was older, probably as old as Tsunade Baa-ba or Ero Sennin, though he seemed far more...he struggled to find a word...grizzled...than those two. Deep wrinkles etched themselves into tanned skin and the roots of his, otherwise raven black hair were tinted with speckles of gray. Made all the more visible by the fact that all of his hair was pulled back into a small ponytail that barely reached the middle of his neck. He had a full beard that ran along his jaw line, and chin before it joined his mustache on his upper lip.

His clothes were simple. A standard travelers wool cloak, probably cheaper than it already looked with dust mites and holes along the lower edges of it, dull gray in color. Though, on closer inspection the clothes he wore beneath that seemed much better off.

The man was tall though, even crouched he was just barely below Naruto's own eye level

Still the blond scowled, zipping up his bag after another quick inspection as the man stood up. "You didn't tell me who the hell you were old man."

"You never told me who you were either." The traveler shot back eyebrow raised as he looked down on the young boy.

Naruto scowled. "I asked you first."

"That you did." The man replied. "You may call me Tadakatsu. Now...may I have your name boy?"

Again, the blond scowled, eying the identified "Tadakatsu" with suspicion before he finally spoke. "Naruto."

"I see. Nice to meet you then young Naruto." The man said before swiftly turning on his heel and beginning a steady pace up the length of the river.

Naruto blinked, startled by the abrupt departure before he finally caught himself, throwing on his jacket as he grabbed his bag of provisions before taking off after the man. "Hey!!!"

Tadakatsu paused, waiting for the teenager to catch up before he finally responded. "Yes? Is there something more I can do for you."

Naruto's brain came up short, wondering for a second or two just why the hell he'd followed the weird pack rummager before he finally came up with something.

"Aren't there bandits on the road? Aren't you in danger by walkin' by yourself?"

"Arent you?"

Naruto shook his head, a smile lighting up his face. "Nah, I'm a ninja. I can take on Bandits."

"Really." The older man said, his face the picture of genuine surprise. "Well in that case I would like to hire you if you'll let me Naruto-san. The road ahead is long, and it is indeed dangerous."

Naruto's smile got wider but it soon dropped, eyes once again narrowing in suspicion before he crossed his arms. Watching as the older man's head tilted softly to the side, curious to the reaction.

"Wait." The blond said, lips curling into a thoughtful frown. "How much exactly are we talking about here."

The grey robed traveler smiled, hanging his head for a moment with a somewhat bittersweet expression on his face before he pulled out a smal pouch, he opened it, and pulled out a handful of gold coins. "Would this be sufficient perhaps?"

Naruto's eyes went wide, looking at the offered money like it was a godsend. One thing that closet didnt have was a lot of cash. If all he had to do was guard this guy from simple bandit attacks then this was easy money for him. "Hell yea that's sufficient!!!" He yelled moving to grab the money only for Tadakatsu to pull back his hand at the last second, resealing the pouch and hooking it onto his belt.

"Sorry my boy. But the employed gets paid only after the job is done."

Naruto nodded, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. "Aha, yea I knew that."

Tadakatsu nodded, then proceeded to begin walking again. "Now then, let us leave young Naruto. The day is still young, and we have much ground to cover."

Naruto shook his head, smiling widely as he strapped his pack back into its proper position over his shoulder and followed closely behind.

* * *

"Look at this!"

Hana marched over, pushing aside bushes and foliage as she made her way closer to the one who had called out, listening to the five dogs, including the three that belonged to her, make their way closer as well.

The man waved a crumpled map infront of their faces.

"This thing reeks of the kid."

Hara raised an eyebrow. "He just left it there? He left a _map_!? The second most important thing while traveling in Konoha's woods?"

Her clansmen shrugged. "Maybe." He said, though it sounded weak even to his ears. Why would he leave a map? Why would anyone leave a map?

"He probably left this as a taunt." She finally concluded. "Or lure...for all we know he may have gone in a completely different direction."

"Makes sense." Another clansmen said, dropping down from the trees. "Stackin' the deck." He added as an afterthought.

Hana nodded, watching as the first clan member opened the map, careful to avoid tearing the crinkled parchment "Look at this too." He said as he finally finished unfurling it.

A slash was along the lower right edge of the map, just above where the name of _"Kirigakure"_ would have been.

"Kiri? He's going to Kiri?" The second clan member asked.

Hana growled rubbing her forehead. Just great. They had a scent trail leading north east, a map saying he was heading south west and a very real possibility that one, or both could be decoys. "The damn brats pissing me off."

"Stackin' the dec-"

"I got it!" She snapped. "He's fuckin' around and screwin' with us ok? I get it, I understand. Stop repeating yourself!"

The clan member stared at her blankly for several moments.

"Feel better now?"

"Yes very much so thank you." She said clearing her throat before she took a breath, thinking.

Eventually, the first clan member, still holding the map shrugged. "Orders?"

Hana didn't say anything for a moment measuring her options and the likely hood of tracking the young man in either direction.

The scent trail was strong this way. But for all they knew he could have had a clone drag an old pair of underwear or something this way before dispelling. Then they'd be screwed, and farther away from Konoha Territory than she would have liked., they were already encroaching on territory outside of their safe zone, and none on her current team were heavy hitters that could take down an Iwa border patrol.

The other trail, to Kiri...well...there was virtually no evidence that he was heading that way save for the map...and he wouldn't really give them his location when he'd done such an excellent job of hiding his march that way.

She sighed, rubbing her temples. Looks like she'd have to give the bad news to the Hokage. Why the hell didn't things ever go right?

"We're going back. This kid thought this thing through and we'd need Kuromaru, at best, to find him. The trail's dead...or a decoy"

The other two men nodded and shrugged before each of them started the long walk back the way they came.

* * *

Here ya go. Hope you enjoy it.

Also an announcement, One of my old acquaintances has risen from the dead, and we're working on the DBZ cross we started a few years ago. The link is in my profile, near the bottom, check it out when you get the chance, its a good read if I do say so myself.

Anyway, that's all I gotta say, read and review, hope you enjoyed the update, however short or filler-ish it may have been.


	7. The revision

He paced the hallway of his inner chambers, buried miles underground, not for the first time did he appreciate the solitude. He was sure that most populations would have as well. Because he felt absolutely murderous!!!

Itachi was miles away, and that was a good thing. Because if the Uchiha were standing here right now, at this very instant, he would certainly not be having a polite conversation with the impudent little bastard.

Such a confrontation may very well end badly for him, but he was well beyond caring at this point.

All that time...Years of planning, guarding. Of keeping the true threats away. He was safe within the walls of Konoha. All that for absolutely _nothing_!!!

To be sure he never agreed with the decision Sarutobi came to; not training the boy from an early age. A decision, that no doubt was a by product of the old man's bleeding heart, but at least the boy was relatively safe within the walls of the village and under its jurisdiction.

But now...now the boy was not only weak....he was out of the village...he was out of the village and for all they knew probably captured already by the Enemy.

And all because Itachi felt they had been moving too slow.

Plan's that had been laid decades in advance, shattered into a thousand tiny pieces by this single act...

Of course they all had contingencies in case of Naruto's capture during a mission. Agents placed in key locations that could be mobilized in seconds outside of Konoha's borders to gather evidence and chase leads.

But this was different...

Naruto had left the village, in some way, that had even managed to fool Itachi

Currently, his only agent near Konoha was roughly a day or so away from the village on a mission. At which point the trail will most likely have gone cold.

So therefore, he had no leads. Virtually nothing to go on save for the reports that reached Tsunade. Which he had no doubt she would be pouring over for the next few days trying to find some clue as to Naruto's possible destination before she actually had a breakthrough, or realized that she wasn't going to find anything. Leaving, again, a cold trail.

So, with no way to narrow it down, Naruto may re-emerge in a village like Take, which was less than an hour ninja run from the village of Konoha, to some god forsaken place in the northern wastes.

His agents were good but they were no miracle workers. They cant cover the entire globe looking for a boy who could henge and take any appearance. They may as well try to find one specific snowflake in a blizzard.

But still he had to make the effort. Tighten the noose now while it was still 'early'. He had already sent out messages to every contact he had, focusing all efforts in villages within Konoha's borders and the one's immediately outside of fire country's jurisdiction.

And should they find him, then things will have to be set in motion far earlier than originally anticipated. His ability to escape unnoticed by so many, within a ninja village will make their enemies wary, and perhaps, even desperate enough to strike at him in force, and not, isolated attempts. One's that, in his experience had been far far too close to comfort on several occasions.

The true ninja are those who can keep thing's, all things...unseen.

Ignorance is bliss.

But now he needed to be protected directly. The hidden vigil they had kept was not sufficient anymore.

Then there was another worry. Naruto's encounter with Itachi itself. It could have left serious damage to his psyche. Trauma and changes that would have to be analyzed and perhaps even controlled when they rediscovered him.

Though...Itachi had assured them all that he had not inflicted any more pain than what was absolutely necessary to cause initial subjugation. Such as nailing his palms to the wooden cross, a relatively small injury as far as ninja pain thresholds went, even for gennin, considering the many meditations and sheer physical exercise they each undertook.

What Itachi had done for the time he had trapped the boy in the world of the Tsukiyomi, after that however was what the Uchiha called "subjective hypnosis." A process by which, according to Itachi's description the victim's mind was indoctrinated to hold a preference for a certain idea over others. Something Itachi said was relatively painless but very time consuming in order to assure the best possible chances of it being successful.

In this case, leaving the village had been Itachi's suggestion.

Next time, if there ever was a next time; the damn Uchiha should specify to leave the village _stupidly_!!!

The snake sannin shook his head. This was getting him nowhere. He had to think of something more something, _anything_ that he could do to improve the chances of finding some kind of success from this dismal situation.

So far he could only think of one option...

And it wasn't an option he wanted to follow.

He rubbed his pale forehead growling at the pulsing migraine that was threatening to overtake him at the moment.

What a bloody mess.

Not for the first time he regretted the fact that he had chosen Kabuto to help him for the immediate aftermath of the attack on Konoha. He was the most competent of his spies by far, and the one whom had the most amount of time within Konoha's walls, considering his status as a gennin. He may have actually been able to salvage this situation before it got out of hand.

But alas, the silver haired medic was stuck _here_! Where he could do nothing to help the situation.

Orochimaru sighed, sinking down into his chair as he leaned back, staring up into the ceiling. There was only one option at this point...only one that would increase their chances of capturing the blond Jinchuuriki quickly.

_Why can't things ever go according to plan?_

* * *

The smile was there.

And it was irritating.

It had been there, sitting on that blue face for the better part of four hours.

Stopping in mid stride the Uchiha did an abrupt about face, finding Kisame standing there, once again...smiling.

"Is there something you would like to say?" He asked, eyebrow twitching in irritation.

Kisame raised his eyes heavenward, , pursing his lips in mock consideration before finally shaking his head. "No thanks I'm good for now."

Growling the Uchiha considered the benefits it would bring to simply kill the annoying fish man with Amaterasu once and for all.

He almost went through with it.

There was only one problem.

"Kisame..." He said as he extended his hand. "Could you hand me our food reserves please?"

The Kiri nin raised a non existent eyebrow. "What the fuck for?"

"....I would like to eat something..."

For some reason he could not explain Kisame felt as if he should hold onto that storage scroll...keep it very very close....

* * *

Marching through the emerald green forests of Konoha, Naruto stared upwards into the overhanging leaves, bright lances of light piercing through the fine little cracks in the canopy, with Tadakatsu easily marching at his side.

The young gennin's lips pursed in thought, wondering just exactly when he would be able to come back to Konoha. It would have to be when he was stronger. When he could protect everyone from Akatsuki and Itachi's brother especially.

He wasn't sure how long that would take but he needed to get down to some training in order to get started. He'd have to train by himself until he could find someone else to train him. Someone that wasn't as perverted as Ero-sennin.

Next to the boy, Tadakatsu observed him carefully. Watching as his eyes squinted in thought, narrowing into thin slits as he focused his, apparently limited mental faculties onto some problem the elder male could only guess at.

His features to the elder male were...odd....bright blond hair was a rarity in fire country, somewhat more common in Kumo but still even there the shade was considered a random draw in the child's genes.

His facial structure was somewhat different from most fire country citizens as well. Fire country born peoples usually had sharp features. Thin and aristocratic some would say The young Uzumaki's features were slightly rounder, the bridge of his nose just a little bit wider.

He tried to place the origin of his genetic inheritance. Somewhere east of Iwa perhaps? Or maybe north of Suna.

Soon enough the older man mentally shrugged. It would be revealed with time perhaps. Or perhaps not revealed at all. It was irrelevant in the larger scheme of things.

He caught sight of something along the corner of his eye, hand lashing out and gripping Naruto's shoulder, stopping him mid stride as the young man looked up at the older male with a glare as he rubbed his sore arm. "What's the big idea."

In response Tadakatsu pointed down, to the earth where Naruto caught sight of small purple flower, its stem bent where he had almost crushed it beneath his foot.

"You stopped me from crushing a plant."

"Not just a plant young Uzumaki, medicinal. 'Sada Bahar' Works well when boiled into a tea, holds off infection, fever, and has even been known to cure pneumonia, a constant hazard for travelers caught in rainstorms."

Naruto crossed his arms. "Never been sick."

"Really?" Tadakatsu asked looking surprised as he looked up at the young man. "Is that part of your ninja training? An immunity to disease?"

Naruto grew suddenly nervous, knowing that the reason he'd never been sick was most likely the nine tailed fox sealed within his stomach. Explaining _that_ little bit of information was not something on his agenda.

"Uhh-yea!" He said, almost too quickly.

Tadakatsu hmmed, pulling several petals from the flower and gathering them in his cupped hand. "Then why is it you require Medical ninja? I know those exist?"

Naruto began to sweat, racking his brain for a proper answer when Tadakatsu suddenly spoke again, abating his fears. "Oh, silly me. I suppose its a given that your work would make you all prone to physical injury if not illness. Ninja have yet to discover the secret of invulnerability.

Naruto sighed with relief, nodding enthusiastically as Tadakatsu stood up. "Yup. That's why."

The Bearded traveler placed his collected petals into his pouch nodding with satisfaction at the contents, though Naruto missed his amused smile, somewhat like a father indulging the fantasies of a young child. "Well now, let us continue on then."

Smiling Naruto once again marched side by side with his employer, brain swiftly returning to solving his dilemma on just how he was going to get stronger.

* * *

Meanwhile, miles away near the other side of fire country The Toad Sannin lunged from tree branch to tree branch powerful legs swallowing thirty feet of distance in single leaps.

He cursed at himself, knowing that he was far too late to make a difference but rushing to the scene all the same.

That damn brat! How could he be so stupid!?

He had been near the south eastern coast looking up some old contacts meant to keep a tight net of eyes around Kiri when the messenger slug had reached him.

He hadn't stayed for very long after that.

He knew he wouldn't be able to find Naruto by tracking him, the trail would be days cold. No, what he needed was to get to Konoha, where he could send out messages to all corners of fire country with all the speed that could be given. Tighten his network of spies and information brokers around fire country quick before Naruto could escape the boundaries of the country where his influence was strongest. Otherwise the blond would be a nameless, faceless kid in the nations beyond where he would never be able to find him.

And he couldn't let that happen.

Stupid, stupid brat.

As he continued leaping from tree to tree however, something dark jumped out at him from the canopy above. With reflex action the Toad sannin drew a Kunai faster than most men could blink, slicing the thing's head clean off of its body while in mid air.

Landing on the next tree branch the Toad sannin planted his feet firmly on the wooden perch, all forward momentum brought to a dead stop as he swiveled around, kunai still in hand, scanning his surroundings in search of any enemy.

"I see your skills have not completely dulled fool."

Jiraiya turned, looking over his shoulder where he found the all too familiar dread visage of his former teammate and S class Nuke-ninja Orochimaru.

There was a tense moment of silence between the two men, as Orochimaru stood still, arms crossed in front of his chest, his usually sick grin completely absent from his features.

Jiraiya didn't pay attention to the surrealism of the situation, his mind passing through battle plans and strategies he could employ in this situation as he simultaneously continued to expand his senses to the surrounding wilderness, searching for the other ninja that must be here.

Then his mind started to swivel to other areas. Had this been a trap all along? Had Orochimaru been the one to kidnap Naruto just to lure him here and kill him? Had he somehow managed to synthesize a slug summoning?

He couldnt think on that now, with a fast turn, he threw his previously used kunai at the snake nin, hands going through seals the moment the metal hilt had fled his grip.

"Check!"

Jiraiya froze for a moment as Orochimaru's voice, fused and channeled with chakra escaped his mouth at the same pitch and tone of Sarutobi's, yelling the command word Sarutobi had ingrained into all of them during their youth to stop whatever they were doing on the spot. It had been _decades_ since that word had been spoken to any of them. But some things one doesn't forget.

Still that moment was enough and Orochimaru raised his arms, holding them out infront of him as he caught the kunai between his fingers and let it drop. "I did not come here to fight toad."

Jiraiya held his stance, still channeling the chakra to coarse through his system. Running beneath the layers of his skin as he held it at the ready.

Alarm bells rang in his mind, red flags that warned of various ways this could turn out to be a trap, a lure the devious snake was using to have him let down his guard to stab him in the back later.

He wouldn't fall for it. But neither was he going to pass up the oportunity to get an inkling to the snakes motivations. This wasnt the place to fight him. He wasnt sure if he could beat the snake. Then Konoha would be short one Sannin, the manager of its most well organized and primary spy network _and_ it wouldn't have any more knowledge on what Orochimaru wanted.

Not to mention that the snake could still have bodyguards waiting in the woods around them.

No...now wasn't the time to fight.

"Then wha'd you come here for? A peaceful stroll?

Slowly, Orochimaru lowered his hands, letting them rest on his side before he answered.

"I'm here because we _both_ need to find young Uzumaki."

* * *

Well here we go, this chapter is done. The next chapter I'm somewhat looking forward to so I should be able to finish it soon enough. I am still working on Lost soul to those of you who are worried over it. Its slow progress but its coming along.

Anyway, to those of you who can read and review please.

Also, is anyone here a fan of the Warhammer 40k genre (If you cannot review PM) I'm working on the concept of another idea in my head and I need someone to bounce ideas off of.


	8. The message

Well here I am again. Bit short for the wait but still good I think, hope you agree.

* * *

Days into the march the rain was beating heavily over his scalp, drenching him from head to toe in droplets that seemed to be more like ice than actual water if one were to judge by how cold it was. Hit like they were solid too.

"Hey!" The young Shinobi called out towards his grey robed client who still stood up in front, keeping a distance of a few paces.

Uppon receiving no response Naruto called out again. "Hey old man can we stop anywhere?this is ridiculous!"

Tadakatsu, shielded from the worst of the rain by his heavy cloak and wide straw wicker hat over his head, looked back to the boy,a single eyebrow raised as he spoke, his tone vaguely apologetic. "Oh, my, forgive me young Naruto, I was under the impression that, as a Shinobi you had some means of shielding yourself from the rainstorm."

The Jinchuriki's face scrunched up "What the hell would make you think that!?" He asked, squinting as though he was trying to decipher for himself the answer to his question.

"Oh, well I had seen one Shinobi once use a form of energy to create some protective hood over himself as a shield against the rain. But I suppose it may have been a unique ability to himself." He paused, another thought occurring to him "Or did you simply not learn the skill?"

There was no accusation, no judgment in his tone, only simple idle curiosity. It still didn't stop Naruto from becoming nervous at the question.

He grinned, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. "Eh, haven't really gotten to that part of my training yet."

"Ahh I see." The older man replied, turning back to the road ahead. "It must be an advanced exercise then. The man said it required control."

Naruto's face once again scrunched up his mind applying all of its somewhat limited faculties to deciphering what Tadakatsu had just said.

_'Control?' _He thought. _'Did he mean like chakra control?'_ His eyes suddenly lit up, realization falling into his features. _'That means I'll get to keep dry and train at the same time! Sweet!!!'_

With this thought in mind the Jinchuriki began trying to figure out how the technique worked. Chakra control had always been centered around the soles of the feet. So making some kind of shield over you to protect you from the rain had to be focused at the top of your head.

And so with a look of concentration spread across his face the Jinchurikki began his exercise, unaware that the older man infront of him was paying very close attention.

_'Interesting'_

_

* * *

  
_

Meanwhile however, miles behind the two travelers, there were two others, one who's silence and walk was not nearly so amicable or easy.

Jiraiya was tense at the snake sannin's side, arms crossed in front of his chest, casting sidewards glances at his former teammate's profile lips curled in a faint, almost unnoticeable sneer; which would vanish only when his eyes moved this way and that way for signs of the impending ambush or sneak attack.

None of this escaped the snake sannin's notice, even though his serpentine eyes was gleaning over the forest floor and various trees for any sign that may have survived three days of the elements.

His old teammate was proving to be more a hindrance than an asset in this search. He supposed that it was only normal considering their history. Suddenly working alongside the man you'd fought and hunted for the past decade and a half would throw anyone off their feet, even though the rule of the land was that yesterdays enemy was today's ally.

Still, if they were to get anything done he needed the perverted moron to focus.

Rounding fully on the toad, he watched, unsurprised to find the perverts hands reaching for a kunai beneath his sleeve.

"Are you planning on actually searching for the boy Jiraiya. Or were you simply planning simply standing about like a useless waste of space that has the indecency to consume oxygen?"

Jiraiya's lips curled in an outright snarl this time, the point of his fang visible from the opening. "Fine I was sick of this shit anyway. What the hell is it that you're playing at? And don't give me that Bullshit that we both need to find Naruto."

"Its not, as you so crudely put it, _bullshit, _fool." It was the snakes turn to sneer. "The fact is that there are more things in motion than you could ever know. Thing's sensei hid from you and Tsunade for a reason."

"And he so conveniently told you?" He scoffed. "The man who killed him?"

Orochimaru glowered fists clenching at his side, narrowing his eyes at the toad sannin, who took a step back, assuming a ready stance.

A few moments of tense silence.

Then, his fingers eased their pressure, hands going slack at his side, face one again returning to neutral impassivity.

"If you wish to act like a petulant two year old fool, Jiraiya then leave, I will track the boy myself and send you my findings if I feel so inclined." In truth, he didn't need Jiraiya's presence. Gods above no. He did not need the oaf here. What he needed was his spy networks, his connections, his ability to find people who did not want to be found. Pooling both their resources they stood a much, _much_ higher chance of finding the boy before he fell into the hands of the enemy.

Jiraiya sputtered before he grit his teeth. "Like hell you fuckin' are!" Naruto was _his_ student. And while he didn't trust Orochimaru as far as he could throw the man (while he was fighting back...otherwise he could throw pretty damn far) he...begrudgingly realized that with both their resources they stood a very good chance at finding Naruto.

It also allowed for an unprecedented opportunity to get inside Orochimaru's lairs. Learn more of his ways to disappear. It would make it easier to hunt him down when the time came.

'Leave and I'll send you my findings.' Yea he'd get right on that. He may have decided to cooperate but he would be damned if he wasn't breathing down the snake's neck every step of the way. If Orochimaru's spies even found a hair of the boy he was gonna make sure he knew about it _before_ the snake did. And he was gonna make sure that _when, _ not if, when this thing turned into a shit-fight he was gonna be damn well ready to get Naruto out and possibly cut this lying bastard's throat wide open at the same time.

"Then make yourself useful you bumbling moron!" The snake nin growled before swiveling on his heel, ending their conversation.

Jiraiya's twisted features were somewhere between distaste and outright disgust before he too huffed and tried to focus his attention into the surrounding foliage as the two continued their search pushing past the trees with more than a meter distance between them, with neither one allowing the other to remain behind them for too long.

Finally, as the sun began to descend from its peak in the sky, Jiraiya caught sight of something.

"Stop!" He barked, making Orochimaru halt his careful walk dead, eyes snapping upwards as he searched for whatever it was that had caught the toads attention.

Two quick strides swallowed the distance between Jiraiya and a dying flower, its stem half broken, petals already beginning to fall.

"Think he came through here?" He questioned, half rhetorically. "Or was this just some random animal.

"Konoha's forests dont have many large animals." Orochimaru hmmed, taking a knee as he inspected it. But a small boar may have done so...though he may have eaten it as well..." He reeled suddenly, head jerking minutely backwards in surprise. "Wait...do you recognize this?"

"Sada Bahar. Tsunade's favorite." The toad breathed looking to Orochimaru who immediately stated the two words that always held true in the ninja world.

"There is no such thing as coincidence."

Reaching down Orochimaru's pale, bony fingers caressed the dying medicinal flower. Fingertips soon gliding over the petals searching for something. Soon enough, his fingers plucked a single petal running over its surface repeatedly before holding it out to Jiraiya; who's face twisted with confusion.

"What am I supposed to do make shampoo with it?" He groused before he took it gently between his thumb and forefinger growing silent as his fingers brushed against something familiar.

Small little ridges...like scratches in a canvas. Tiny, almost unoticeable save for the fact that there were so many.

He raised it up, holding the thing to the sky where the sun's beams lanced straight through it, revealing dozens of tiny pin prick openings as though someone had taken a needle and meticulously pushed its tip through the white smooth petal.

It was code....a code Sarutobi had taught them.

He pushed chakra to the tips of his fingers, increasing their sensitivity as he ran his finger over the surface again, words leaping into his mind as though he'd never stopped using the simplistic messaging system.

_'To whichever of you three may be reading this. Know that the boy is currently safe. The circumstances of his leaving are unknown to me, but the fabled Professor has had a plan in place for all outcomes of his future even in death. I will guide and protect him. Do not seek us out, for you will not find us until I deem him fit and ready to be found.'_

_Remain Vigilant._

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed, looking to Orochimaru with unabashed suspicion. "How very convenient." He growled.

Scoffing the snake nin reached into his jacket, pulling out a scroll as he stood before tossing it to Jiraiya. "Hold your suspicions if they so comfort you fool. I have no time to be reassuring you like a coddled child. In there you will find some information. Not all, but enough to make you aware of what we face. There is a list of contacts there as well. Places where you can reach me. Help or do not. I will not waste my time. If you prove trustworthy I will give you more information when the time comes.

"If _I _prove _Trustworthy!?" _The toad nin suddenly roared, reaching forward to grasp Orochimaru by the collar of his jacket, only for his fingers to pass across wispy black smoke, his teammate dissolving into little more than tendrils that soon vanished in a gust of wind. Leaving the fuming toad sannin alone in the middle of the clearing. Teeth clenched so hard it felt as though one would chip. Fists so tight his fingernails would break the skin of his palm.

* * *

Beneath the canopy of trees, who's leaves offered them shelter from the still beating rain, Naruto lay on his back, arms spread wide as low snores escaped his open mouth, a small fire crackling in a pit just a foot or so away from him, the gray robed Tadakatsu sitting across the fire, watching the boy intently through brown eyes that glimmered in the firelight.

_Interesting. His chakra control is as expected. Horrifying, given his circumstances. But his resilience is most impressive. He continued that exercise for many hours without showing any signs of fatigue and his body has ceased shivering and shows no sign of the illness that would have all but killed a normal human by now. Perhaps it had been more than mere bluster when he said he could not fall ill."_

He scratched at his beard grunting low in thought_ 'But further studies on his part are necessary. He is too...naive. To easily manipulated and fooled. We will have to remedy that as we travel.' _

Placing another stick into the fire Tadakatsu allowed his mind to wander, thinking of ways he could better prepare the young man who lay sound asleep across from him.

* * *

Here ya go. Hope you all enjoyed it despite its short length. The next one may come out quicker, since for most of the time after the last update I was working on LS in my spare time.

But still I need to think of a few things that I can use in the next chapters for Tadakatsu to use to train Naruto in.

Anyway, like I said, hope you enjoyed it.


	9. The woman

Well here's another chapter, also kinda short but I like it well enough.

* * *

The hustle and bustle of of the lively village marketplace were the first thing to greet Naruto's eyes as he and Tadakatsu passed through the archway of Honou villages' gates.

The dirt road crunched beneath their feet, drowned out by the chattering voices, bellowing cries of the merchants announcing their respective claims to "Best prices in all of fire country."

Wide blue eyes took in the scenery and Tadakatsu had to chickle at the simple innocence. The boy had no doubt rarely been to many villages outside of Konoha, having been just a gennin. With a fixed economy based on mostly military income with a secondary mercantile enterprise, the hustle and bustle of a village who's entire economy relied on trade could be quite overwhelming for many.

Still, this place, like every other, had its share of 'risks'

"Careful young Naruto." He said placing a heavy hand on the boy's shoulder. "Crowds like these are a haven for skilled pickpockets."

The boy's face scrunched, somewhat insulted at the thought that a _pickpocket_ would be able to trick a ninja like him. But he decided to hold his tongue, placing his hands behind his head as they made their way into the village proper.

"Ya know." Naruto ventured, his features scrunching up in the way that indicated he was thinking hard on something as he looked up to the taller male. "You said you were a trader when I met 'cha." Narrowing his eyes he continued. "But I don't see you carrying anything to trade."

The fact that he'd asked this question would normally be a good thing in Tadakatsu's eyes. However, the fact that he'd asked this question after three days of travel was more than a little distressing.

"I do not trade material goods Naruto. I trade information. Traveling between villages allows me to hear things. Things that certain interested parties pay fairly well to hear." He was not even working to hide the nature of his profession, any ninja worth half his bodyweight would be able to work out that his work as an information broker placed him fairly high on most countries most wanted list.

Naruto's features tightened in thought. "People pay to hear rumors?"

He had to fight in order to hold back his groan of despair. Subtlety was obviously not the boy's strong point. Once he'd gotten the information he sought here he would work hard in order to train the boy's mind. Very very hard it would seem.

"Naruto, I need to meet someone here. A woman actually, she's my client in this village. Here." Pulling out a bag of coins he placed them in Naruto's hands. More than enough to buy what he would ask for, and then some. Hopefully the boy wouldn't mismanage it too badly. "Why don't you go into the marketplace and search for some supplies we could use on the road. Food, camping gear and the like."

"Uhh yea sure." He said "But uhh...this is a lot of money old man. I dont think I'll need this much."

_'Hmmm, so he has some sense for handling sums of money. I suppose that makes sense, Sarutobi could not have held his hand all the time as he grew up.' _"Do not worry, simply give me what's left once you're done."

"Uhhh, alright. But I wont be able to protect you if I'm in the marketplace...Hey I know!"

The bearded ninja watched as Naruto formed a cross shaped seal, and at his side, three puffs of smoke indicated the creation of shadow clones. Startling many of the nearby civilians.

"Uhhh." He began. "No, my boy, that wont be necessary." Tadakatsu assured, making a mental note of the boy's chakra capacity considering that he'd just made three solid clones on a whim, which was extremely impressive considering his age. Still he shouldn't be very surprised. Most Jinchuuriki held great chakra reserves that exceeded most normal humans several times over.

Shrugging Naruto dispersed the clones. "Alright I guess. I'll just head to the shops then." Turning, he began to walk away.

Suddenly he stopped, turning around slowly with an irritated look on his face. "Wait...You're not about to pull an Ero-sennin on me are ya?"

The older man's highly confused face was his answer.

* * *

The music from the lower floor of the tea house filtered up through the floorboards, muffled and muted, it provided something of a harmonious backdrop to the tense meeting he was about to partake in.

He slid open the rice paper door at the top of the stairs, the music coming in a little louder here from the open window that offered the mezzanine a birds eye view of the entire tea house.

He saw her sitting there, back to the open window, arms spread out and resting over the back ridge of the leather couch she sat on, one leg crossed over the other, sword leaning against the furniture a little to her right.

He removed his hat, slowly stepping into the room.

She drew a blade, long and razor sharp, she held it unnervingly close to his throat as teal green eyes glared at him. The scar carving its way down her face from the ridge of her brow to her cheek adding to the sharpness of her glare rather than distracting him from it.

"That's close enough."

He smiled, a gentle thing, like that of a brother overindulging a petulant younger sibling. "My dear. Truly? We have known each other for years. Surely you can tell I am no impostor."

She said nothing, her eyes growing icy cold as they fixed themselves on him, the faint hint of a sneer on her delicate features.

The bearded man sighed before he spoke, voice escaping in tones more akin to reciting a litany rather than words.

"We are brothers. We tread in the paths the light dares not follow. We ask for neither blood nor kinship, nor friendship, nor trust nor servitude nor love. Only vigilance."

The sword fell away, the tip, clinking onto the floor as she placed it back into its place, jerking her head once to her right., gesturing for him to take the seat that was as comfortably away from her as possible in the small room.

He obliged, placing himself firmly on the comfortable, soft seat, noting how her eyes followed his every move.

"Let me guess." She began, curt, staring ahead. "The brat's with you. And you find yourself in need of help...training him or hiding him?"

Quick, to the point. She hadn't changed. He sighed. "Training." He answered.

"Good." She barked, a cruel smile lilting her lips. "The boy's useless to us blind, deaf and dumb. I hope you know though-" She paused, turning to face him. "I'm not doing it."

"Oh my dear." He chuckled. "I do believe, you would be too much for the boy. However I did have someone else...in mind...that you may help me locate?"

She seemed to think for a long while. Possibly listing off the people she knew of that could help him, and trying to deduce which one he wanted. A moment later, as her features scrunched into one of distaste, as though she'd just been chewing on something vile; she spat out her words. "Oh I see...you want the old war dog?"

"He would be most helpful. Yes." He admitted.

"Well you'll be out of luck...At least for another eight months." She added as she leaned back in her seat, that grim, dry humored smile tugging at her lips. "He'll be out of contact. At least for that long, maybe he'll even end up dead. Don't think there'll be many tears at the funeral all things considered.

"Then I can only hope for the best." He said placidly. "Where was he supposed to contact you? I'll meet him instead."

"Supposedly he was going to infiltrate. Get into the enemies ranks, bring a group, hopefully some high up the chain to a meeting point at an old abandoned lumber mill, a few miles north of Taka, I'd ambush them. He'd betray, together we'd take them down. You think you can do that with the brat? Be my guess. Free's up my schedule.

"You by yourself?" He questioned gently. "What if it was a trap?"

"I'd fight my way out." She answered, not looking at him. "I'd either die, or they would. Either way, we all have to go eventually. This war was going on long before I got here and it will be going on long after I'm gone."

Her morbidity was unnerving, but he could not fault her for it. It got to them all eventually. And she was dug in deeper than almost anyone else.

There was a crash down below, and Tadakatsu believed it may be a drunk had stumbled into the place, until an increasingly familiar voice drifted up towards his ears through the music and smoke of incense.

"Hey! Hey Old man! Ya in here!"

"That would be you I take it..." The woman asked with acid in her voice, lips once again twisted into something akin to a sneer.

Tadakatsu chuckled somewhat nervously. "Yes, I'm afraid so. The boy is,,,somewhat eccentric but he will learn."

She trailed her eyes upwards, no doubt glancing at the specially angled mirror, carefully hidden within the carvings and patterns on the roof, allowing her to look down onto the boy where he was shouting with the bouncers who were threatening to bodily evict him from the premises.

"He'd better." She snarled searching for the boy through the mirror.

Sharp green found the sun kissed hair and whiskered cheeks across the room and a staggering, lancing pain ripped straight through her head, body jerking as though physically struck before she lurched forward with a groan as everything within her skull came to a freezing, jarring halt.

"Kushina!" The room's other occupant said, standing up, alarmed and worried.

She straightened, holding out her hand in a gesture to stop. As she leaned back on the couch. "I'm fine."

"Are you certain? What was-"

"An old complaint that acts up now and again." She cut him off before she jerked her head back and to the left, gesturing for the exit on the lower floor, a movement that sent stars dancing across her eyes, though she hid it well. "You have your info. Now beat it. Get out of my town."

He hesitated, paused with uncertainty before she turned her gaze onto him again, the twisted, torn skin that was the scar over her face almost glimmering with the angle of the light.

"I said beat it."

He bowed once, nodding before he turned on his heel and proceeded to march down the steps, ready to leave the village.

Kushina sighed through her nostrils, the hard lines of her face only increasing as the Jinchurikki's irritating voice assaulted her ears from down below, followed shortly by Tadakatsu's own gentle tones.

"Hey old man. You done here? I got the fish, and the vegetables."

"Yes Naruto, I do believe the lady and I are finished with our discussion.

"You sure you're not pulling an Ero-sennin on me?"

"Yes Naruto. I am quite certain I would be the first to know if I were doing such a thing."

Once they left, the red headed woman allowed herself a moment to breathe, the pounding headache that had overcome her in the boy's presence dying away with every moment he was gone.

* * *

Waiting on a branch of one of the many towering trees of Konoha, Orochimaru sat, his back to the trunk as he glowered out towards the Horizon, watching soon enough as a snake slithered up the side of the tree trunk, coiling around it as he approached the snake ninja's side, its head soon resting on the Sannin's shoulder.

"What word?" He asked briskly, not wasting time with the beast.

"We, have found her." The creature hissed. "Ssshe ressstsss, in a village along the northern bordersss of fire."

The sannin nodded. Dispelling his summon with a wave of his hand before he stood. He needed to go see the woman who's life he'd taken.

* * *

Well, here it is. Hope you all enjoyed it, Kushina's appearance sort of came to me and I decided to roll with it, I'm glad I did really.

Anyway read and review the next update should be soon (hopefully)


	10. The old friend

Hello, been a while, I've been working on this on and off for the last week or so, along with Lost Soul and God from the machine, so you can expect updates on both those stories soon enough.

My internet connectivity has been less than stable for the last week but when I get back home by Mon. or Tues. that should clear up also.

So, hope you enjoy it.

* * *

The music from the tea house washed over him like fresh water, soothing in its melody, over already frayed nerves as his hands clenched and unclenched, fingers brushing over sweat slick palms.

He sucked in a breath, gathering his courage before he marched forward, parting the heavy wooden door with ease as his nose was soon assaulted by the scents of various types of teas and the stronger, acrid odor of tobacco and pipe weed.

And from the back room, the snake sannin could faintly detect the smell of more...illicit substances. Still, as he marched in, the hostess of the establishment greeted him with a warm smile, not at all visibly frightened by the sickly white pallor of his skin.

She was a pretty little thing, thin, young, probably no older than her mid twenties. Dark hair, flawless skin with a light tan, the type of girl every male would love to have on one shoulder.

He had to admire her professionalism.

"Good evening sir. Table for one?"

"No." He said. "I was hoping you could show me to the private room."

"Ahh right this way sir." She said, her smile recovering so quickly that he felt that he'd only imagined it falling.

"No." He said as she turned to lead him to the room his heightened senses could detect the sweetened smell of opium from.

She turned back to him, confused. "Sir?" She asked.

"I did not say 'The private rooms' I said the private _room._"

The young woman looked confused for a moment longer, before her features shifted with the creeping realization. Dread lining the corners of her eyes as she bit her bottom lip, nodding once before she turned down the other way. The click clicks of her shoes snapping their way up to the sannin's ears.

Finally, she reached a slim doorway of rice paper and wood, sliding it open she bowed quickly, averting her eyes as though she sooner wanted to purge the memory of his face and this meeting from her mind, than ever have to look at him again. The snake didn't say a word to her before he began to climb the shadowed stairway, away from the sounds below.

He reaches the doorway, past the winding staircase, taking a moment to collect himself before he finally opened the door, finding her starting straight at him, her scared eyebrow raised as she spun her sword in her hand, its sharp tip on the floor, the pommel pressed lightly under her palm to keep the blade vertical.

"Snake." She greeted with a nod, the drawl of her voice showing neither contempt nor elation at his arrival as she took a sip of her undoubtedly expensive sake from the cup in the hand not holding the sword.

"Kushina." He greets back with a bow at the waist. "I'm-"

"You just missed him." She interrupted, getting straight to the point as she always did.

The Sannin's eyes snapped up towards her, amber slits narrowing as he found that all too taunting smirk on her lips. The one that she always seemed to have whenever they spoke.

He straightened, taking a step into the room. "So you have seen him?"

"By what I just said that should be obvious." She said before taking another sip, her teeth peeking out from behind her lips.

"Then you must tell me where he is? With an agent? Call him back."

"You cant order me around." She said, her smile dropping for a moment as her tone became severe. "So I _must_ do nothing. He is with an agent, and as you well know I wont reveal his identity. You have your cell and he has his own."

"Kushina." He growls, frustrated exasperation leaking into his voice as he rubs his finger across his creased brow as if to stave off a headache. "The boy is in danger. You know that, I know that, Sarutobi knew that. He made you the master of the order. You're th-"

"Yes that was always a bitter point with you wasn't it." She smiles again. That cold, cruel, taunting smile that's found its rightful place on her face over the last decade. "The fact that he trusted me and not you with this little...boys club of his."

"That's not the point and you know it!" He snarled, turning his gaze away from her and towards the wall, not trusting his emotions to remain hidden. He could see her shoulders shrug from the corner of his eye.

"Maybe not." She admits, laughter in her voice. "But its always fun to see you resist the urge to tell me to fuck off."

He grits his teeth, turning to face her, glaring into her teal green eyes as she still rests casually against the back of the couch, sword still spinning as she held it vertically from the ground.

"I." He begins slowly, marching forward until his leaning over the waist height table between them. "Need. For you to tell me who the hell took him Kushina. And I need you to tell me now."

"Or what?" She challenges. "You'll kill me?" She stands now, the heels of her boots making her seem just a few inches taller than himself as he straightened. "You could try." She continues as she casually kicks the, possibly, sixty plus pound table out of the way and into the wall beside them.

She marched right up to his face, her nose inches from his own . "We both know how that would end though."

"Don't be so certain." The hiss in his voice was eerily similar to the animal he resembled.

She snorts, amused. The same way an adult is amused when a child thinks he can hurt them before he's reached his first decade.

She turns around, exposing her back to him, unafraid, and he seethes, clenching his teeth so tight his jaw begins to ache.

"You..." She continues. "Had your chance. You, Itachi and Kisame. You blew it. Quite frankly I think this is too close to home for you in particular."

There was an accusation there.

Another taunt saying that he couldn't keep things in perspective. That he couldn't handle it. She knew just where to push and she was doing so shamelessly. "Time to give some of my other boys a crack at this thing." Finally, she finishes, and she sits again, leaning back onto the still warm seat as she smiles up at him.

"I think you're done here." She says, dismissing _him. _As though he were some lackey bidden to do her every whim.

He held his tongue...again.

"This boy..." The snake began again. "Is too important for you to just be passing him around like some pretty bauble at a festival. He is not your plaything."

"Yes." She said, her smile dropping again. This time, it didn't recover. "He is currently a pawn in a game of chess. So are you, and so is the man watching over him right now. I'm the one playing the game. So, I can do whatever I want with him. I can do whatever I want with all of you if I think it'll work out for the better in the long run. That old fool you ran through with your sword almost a year ago liked doing it a lot more than I do. And he always did it with a big smile on his face."

He forced himself not to have any reaction, swallowing down his ire at the woman's words against his former master.

He took a deep breath, calming himself down again. For now, this conversation was done. She wouldn't budge, and he doubted he could force her. The conversation was far from over though. He knew that, and he knew that she knew that. He would bring it up again at a later date, at least now he was assured to have a solid lead should Naruto slip through their nets.

He just needed to calm down right now. See things clearly.

Sarutobi had trusted her. Seen it fit to place the ultimate trust of his organization in her hands. Given her all the information. Contacts, agents, resources. Everything. He had to believe that his sensei had known best. And that perhaps Kushina...was...right...that he was too close to this, he needed to take a step back, look on from a more detached perspective.

He closed his eyes, and took a step away, pinching the bridge of his nose before he renewed his glare over her. By the look in his eyes she knew she won and her smile became all the bigger because of it.

He decided to change the subject.

"Were there any...adverse effects due to your meeting the boy?" There was just the barest hint of concern in his voice, not entirely false , but present because of things entirely different to the reason implied.

"Not really." She shrugged. "I felt a..." She seemed to search for the proper word, lips pursing before she spoke. "A resonance...from the taint I suppose." The smile that her lips formed this time was bitter "Hard to believe its lasted for over a decade isn't it?"

The question was rhetorical, and so he chose not to answer. "I can run a full diagnostic over your seal by tomorrow. I can make sure the taint wont spread furth-"

"Forget it." She said, adjusting her position on the couch. "I don't need your help for a two second head-ache.

He stiffened, spine going ramrod straight, though, thankfully, she didn't notice, busy rolling and popping the joints of her neck.

"Kushina." He began, keeping his voice carefully controlled, belying none of his anxiety. "You know that the Kyuubi's taint within you is a great unknown. To this day even with all my research I've barely uncovered what long term effects it may have on you if left unchecked."

In response the woman snorted. "Leave it alone snake. I'll live."

He swallowed, his only reaction. He couldn't push too hard or she would become suspicious, but now he found h had a much more pressing matter to address than Naruto's location. For if the seal that provided her fabricated memories broke, then her wrath would fall solely on his head with Sarutobi dead.

And dissension, among the Order's highest ranking member and her lieutenant leading one of the five cells would be an open door to disaster.

He would need to fix this very soon if she refused to cooperate for much longer. Her memories could not return. Not now.

* * *

It was raining again.

Naruto was sincerely beginning to hate the rain. For the last two days since they'd left Honou it'd done nothing but rain.

They'd managed to make good time hitchhiking with some travelers that had a horse pulled carriage. But that didn't stop them from getting soaked from head to toe.

And worse than that there was nothing to _do_ on the road. Tadakatsu was more than happy to spend his time _reading_ whatever scrolls he had on him whenever the rain let up.

But Naruto wasn't a reader, he would have probably fallen asleep on his feet before he could sit and enjoy a complete book.

Well, at least they'd made it to...

Wait...where exactly were they?

He looked around at the closely cropped buildings, dark, rotting wood adding to the dreary atmosphere brought on by the rain, a faint fog clinging to the wooden surfaces.

From his observations he could tell three things with definitive certainty.

One: This place creped him out.

Two: He may have seen this in a movie once.

And three: He didn't have the foggiest notion of where the hell in fire country they were...

Were they even in fire country anymore?

"Where we goin old man?" He asked hugging his cloak tighter around himself., irately blinking away a drop of rainwater that found its way right over his eye. And did it again in the next second, and again, and again and so on and so forth. "You know, I need ta get me one of those hats."

The older male chuckled, passing by the side of an inn, the smoky smells of sake, wine, tobacco roasted meats and cooking rice wafting out towards them, making the blonds mouth water as he realized just how hungry he actually was.

Then he realized Tadakatsu wasn't stopping in this place.

His horror stricken face would have been comical if the bearded male would have seen it.

"H-hey old man wh-where the hell are you going!"

"We wont be staying here my boy!" He yelled without turning back, already guessing the nature of the boy's protest. "As hospitable as the "Hog'n Ale inn" is I find myself desiring a more tranquil place of rest."

"B-b-b-but...but they have _food!_ They may even have _Ramen!_"

"Yes." The older man said, voice carrying over the cacophonous drum of the rain. A humorous lilt in his voice. "The pain I feel over the loss is sharp my boy."

Naruto sniffled, tears running down his face before he turned and followed the man, longingly looking back at the great smelling inn as it got further and further away from him.

They made a right, a left, another right, another left, by the time they got to the wherever they were staying, Naruto couldn't make heads or tails of where "Hog'n Ale" had been.

_Damn_!

He looked up, squinting against the beat of the rain at the gate that loomed over them framed by the ten foot wall that spread out about twenty feet in both directions. He squinted through the darkness, finding a large estate within the high walls.

With a simple familiarity of someone returning home, Tadakatsu opened one of the gates with a creaking swing.

Head swiveling this way and that way, Naruto followed, staring at the surrounding foliage that lined the walkway like a wolf was about to jump out at him.

Confidently Tadakatsu climbed the porch steps. The constant beat of the rain over their bodies immediately cut off as they stepped beneath the tiled roof. Their clothes dripping with pitter pats of their own as water fell from them, pooling on the wooden floors at their feet.

The older male removed his hat, running a hand through his slightly damp hair before taking a step forward and giving three firm knocks onto the door.

There was a shuffle inside, the sound of footsteps coming closer, then the door was opened, the glow of firelight emerging from the inside, silhouetting the figure of a middle aged man, perhaps late forties or early fifties, his hair may have once been brown, though it was swiftly turning gray, with only the tips holding some semblance of color as it hung down to his shoulders as he peered out cautiously through the crack between the door and its frame.

He looked to Naruto, then to Tadakatsu, eyes narrowing in confusion as he hesitantly ventured a bit further past the door. "Tadakatsu?"

The smile that spread over the bearded man's features was impossibly wide as he spread his arms out as though to embrace the man. "Katsuye!"

The man at the door laughed, surprised but delighted as he opened the door and rushed forward, embracing Tadakatsu as though he were the prodigal son returning home.

Which for all Naruto knew he might very well be.

Katsuye pulled away, his hands on Tadakatsu's shoulders as he looked him up and down, taking in his appearance. "Oh, by the gods." He gasped, a chuckle in his voice.

"Its been too long, my old friend." Tadakatsu said squeezing his shoulder before sweeping his hand to the side. " Come, I must introduce you to my young friend here. Uzumaki Naruto"

"Ahhh." Katsuye breathed, smiling down at the confused blond. "Another apprentice for you Tadakatsu?"

"Hah." The man barked in response. "No no, Naruto is a ninja, guarding me as I conduct my trading business. You know how dangerous the roads are these days."

"Ahh I see." Katsuye said slowly, his lips twitching. "A ninja so young? Well you must be very strong then Uzumaki Naruto." He added, eyes shifting to Tadakatsu, mirth hidden in the depths of his irises.

In response Naruto smiled, flushing in embarrassment at the praise as he scratched the back of his head. The humor at his expense going completely over his head.

Katsuye chuckled, stepping aside in a hurry. "Ahh, please forgive my lack of manners, come in, make yourself at home please please."

Stepping through the wooden portal Katsuye wasted no time in taking their soaking cloaks from their shoulders and draping them over one arm. "Ahhh, Fujiko." He said, calling down a housekeeper from down the hallway.

Making her way closer she instantly grabbed onto the the cloaks, passing them from his arm to her own. "Could you please make sure that these are cleaned and tended to?" The homeowner asked, watching as the young girl nodded with a courteous. "Yes sir." Before making her way down the hallway.

Looking around, Naruto found that the interior of the home was much warmer than the exterior. A rich, cherry wood made up the walls and floors, casting a sort of, reddish glow in the firelight of candles.

The blond found himself smiling as they made their way further into the home, with Katsuye calling another maid as soon as they reached the study, asking for wine.

"It is late Katsuye-" The traveler said, holding up his hands. "I do not believe it would be best to-"

"Nonsense!" Katsuye interrupted, marching around his desk as he sat down. "When the great Tadakatsu Honda visits he must be offered the best wine."

Chuckling, the man answered with an overly dramatic bow. "And when the great Katsuye Murashi offers, then the great Tadakatsu must drink."

Watching as Tadakatsu took a seat on the other side of the desk Naruto mimicked his action, legs swinging freely as he did, unable to reach the floor from his place on the chair.

Looking to the bearded man Katsuye smiled as he spoke. "So my friend, how long will you be staying for?"

Tadakatsu looked down, a somewhat shamed smile creeping up on him. "You know me too well Katsuye. I was hoping to take advantage of your hospitality for three to four months."

Katsuye made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "Take as much advantage as you wish. You and your young ninja protector can stay for as long as you like. My home is yours." Looking to the door, Katsuye let out a pleased gasp as one of the maids entered the room, a tray with three goblets and a pitcher of wine on its surface.

Serving his two guests and then himself, (though Tadakatsu was pleased to note Naruto received a much smaller portion than the two of them.) Katsuye did not wait before taking a gulp from his cup. Tadakatsu half suspected that he'd only offered the wine to have an excuse to drink it himself.

When he was finished the man looked over his two late night visitors. "Ahh where are my manners the two of you must be tired from your travels. The servants will show you to your rooms."

"Thank you my old friend. Tadakatsu said with a bow of his head. "Oh and, where are your two young ones? It is two is it not? I'd heard lady Murashi was pregnant a second time years ago?"

"Yes they're in their rooms now, but don't you worry. You'll get to see your nieces tomorrow first thing."

"You have nieces?" Naruto asked, incredulous.

"Calm down my boy, we'll discuss it tomorrow."

"Am I gonna have to protect them too?"

Tadakatsu smiled before gently grasping Naruto by the shoulder and turning him around towards the exit. "We'll see wont we." He answered before throwing a mirthful look over his shoulder at Katsuye, who continued to smile from behind his desk, bidding them goodnight with a raise of his wine filled cup.

* * *

Just two scenes for this chapter, the next chapter (and possibly the following one) will be fillerish really, but in the one after that we should finally meet up with the "Old war dog" Kushina mentioned in the previous chapter. I'm actually looking forward to his introduction.

Anyway, hope you enjoy it, read and review please.


	11. The task

It was to the musical chirping of song birds, dry hair and a warm cot that Naruto woke to.

He sat up, rubbing his mussed hair, scanning the room with curious eyes before remembering he'd arrived here with Tadakatsu yesterday.

He stood up from the bed, shivering a bit as his feet touched the cold floor.

Marching out of the room in the clothes he'd fallen asleep in, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki looked from left to right along the hallway, wondering where the bathroom was, and if there was anyone he could ask.

His face scrunched up, miffed at the fact that Tadakatsu was off in some other wing of this place and he wasn't around to ask. He'd obviously been here before judging by what he'd seen last night.

He decided that he would choose his path using the most reliable way he knew of.

Pointing down the right side of the hall he said "Enie-"

Pointing down the left; "Meanie"

Pointing back to the right; "Minie"

And so at the end of his little childhood ritual song he went down the right path.

Marching down the hallway the young Shinobi passed his eyes over the various empty rooms, wondering why someone needed such a big house if it was gonna be empty most of the time.

The sound of voices reached his ears and he followed them, listening closely as he wound his way through the hallways of the estate.

One turn to the left, one to the right, another left and he found his way towards one of the entrances to the dining hall where he found Katsuye and Tadakatsu sitting at one corner of the long wooden furniture, the remains of a small but, apparently delicious breakfast finished between them as they joked and laughed over whatever it was they were drinking.

When they noticed him Katsuye greeted him with a smile and a raised glass. "Ahh, young Naruto! Welcome! Come! Sit, eat with us please!"

"Yes come." Tadakatsu added with a chuckle. "I was just telling Katsuye-dono how good of a bodyguard you've been since we've started on our trip."

Naruto smiled, blushing with embarrassment at the praise. "Hah, that's me. But...we haven't really fought anyone on this trip-" He added, as though just realizing that little detail himself.

"Oh, nor would I want to." Tadakatsu replied, acting every bit the role of the non-combatant. "But never the less you have been there, ready to defend me if needed and that is what's important."

Again, the blond smiled, soaking up the kind words.

The doors on the other side of the dining room opened violently, sliding so hard into its opposite wall it was nearly rattled off its tracks completely.

"_Daddy!_" The cry was high pitched, and both Tadakatsu and Naruto openly flinched, ducking their heads low and half raising their arms as if to cover their ears before they stopped themselves.

Katsuye, on the other hand turned in his seat, opening his arms wide as a bundle of white clothes and brown hair plowed into his stomach.

"Argh!" Katsuye mock growled, grabbing the offending child and picking her up closer to his face. "A little monster has come out of the forest to try and eat me!"

"No daddy, its me!" The little girl giggled slapping at his arms and kicking her stubbly little feet in the air.

"Argh what do you think uncle Tadakatsu!" He snarled, ignoring her as he looked to the dark haired male. "What should we do with little monsters who like to eat people!"

Tadakatsu opened his mouth, fishing for an answer for a moment before it came to him, speaking through his own soft chuckles at the display. "Ahh, well...eat it first?"

"Argh yes! An excellent idea!" Katsuye said, snapping his eyes back onto the child struggling in his arms before he lifted up her shirt to expose her chubby stomach full of mostly baby fat. He pulled in his lips, curling them over his teeth before rushing down and delivering a series of mock bites amid some loud growling noises.

The girl squealed and kicked, laughing hard as her father tickled her stomach. "Da-daddy!" She gasped out between peals of laughter.

Finally, Katsuye pulled away, shock on his face that was completely real as far as the girl was concerned. "Why; Tadakatsu this is no little monster spawned from the forest come to eat me!" He cried, aghast. "Its my little Sachii!"

"I tried to tell you!" She said, her laughter dying away. Her feet still kicked helplessly in the air as her father held her up.

Tadakatsu watched the scene, a smile on his lips. But more than that, we watched his young charge. Naruto stared openly at the display, probably hadn't even noticed that the servants had left him his food already.

His face was an open window in which the agent could see all of those little emotions that passed across his mind with ease. Wonder, curiosity, amusement and just the barest hint of envy.

"Uncle Taki!"

He was drawn from his thoughts as the little Sachii slammed into _his_ stomach this time. He'd taken softer blows in the great war.

He coughed, bringing air back into his lungs before looking down to the girl that had her little arms wrapped around his waist, craning her neck up to smile a wide, toothy smile at him.

"Oh my goodness!" He yelled, a surprised smile of his own spreading across his face. "You're so big!" He said. "Last time I saw you you were only this big!" He closed one eye, letting the other peek out between his thumb and index finger as he held them only slightly apart.

"No I wasn't, I was bigger." The girl said through a strange cross between a sigh and a laugh.

For the first time she seemed to notice Naruto's presence, turning her head at an almost impossible angle to look at the blond haired ninja before pointing with a short finger. "Who's that?"

Naruto blinked, as though just realizing that he was, infact, in the same room.

"This is Naruto." Tadakatsu answered for the boy. "He is protecting me while I make my trip."

The girl jumped onto the small table marching over its smooth wooden surface, avoiding plates and dishes with practiced ease as she marched up to Naruto.

The boy stared at her, a strange 'deer in the headlights' look, and she stared back, wide eyed and curious.

Then, lightning fast, her hands were on his face, rubbing his cheeks with all the audacity of a six year old.

"What are these!?" She asked, rubbing her hands roughly over the whisker-like marks over his face.

"Ow ow ow!" The boy winced, raising his hands as if to grab her but stopping mid rise, afraid to harm her. "Hey that hurts." He said instead, hoping the girl would heed the words.

She pulled her hands back, smiling up at him with the most toothy smile he'd ever seen. "I like you."

Naruto found himself blinking, confused, uncertain, Tadakatsu's laugh was like a bucket of water being splashed over his face. "Ohoho. Careful now Katsuye. This young little ninja might steal your little one's heart one day!"

Immediately Katsuye stood up, walking around the table and swooping the little girl up in his arms to a squal of laughter. "No! Who do you belong to huh Sachii."

"You!" She laughed.

"That's my girl." He set her down at her spot on the table. "Alright now enough, eat your breakfast."

As he went to retake his seat the door slid open again, this time revealing another girl.

She was older than Naruto by a few years, a little taller too, a sheen of brown hair falling almost to her lower back. She smiled wide as her eyes fell on Tadakatsu. "Uncle!" She yelled, nearly sprinting towards the man. Tadakatsu stood up from his seat to embrace her.

"My goodness Niko!" The older man said into her hair. "You've gotten so big!" Pulling away he looked at her face. "And so beautiful as well." Looking to his long time friend his smile only grew. "You must be beating the suitors away with a stick!"

"That stopped working. So now I use a cleaver."

"Hah!" Tadakatsu barked out a sharp laugh, smiling at Niko again before gesturing to Naruto. "Naruto, this is Niko, Niko, Naruto. He is a ninja from Konoha I've hired to protect me as I travel."

Naruto smiled up at her, extending his hand "Nice ta meat ya."

She shook his hand, still smiling, taking a seat right next to her uncle when her father asked her to sit.

It was well into their breakfast when Katsuye spoke again. "So Tadakatsu, how long do you plan to stay."

"Trying to get rid of me already? And here I was led to believe you knew of hospitality." He teased, knowing his long time friend would let him stay here the rest of their natural lives if he so chose. "A few months this time around, It will be that long until my contact has returned."

"Good good, not like last time eh? Barely even managed to say hello."

"It takes you a week to say hello?"

"It takes me a long time to find these feeling things people speak of."

"Actually." Tadakatsu continued, smiling at the joke. "I was hoping you still held your love of books. Myself and Naruto will be requiring the use of your library for our stay?"

Naruto looked up, blubbering words through a mouthful of food. "We will?"

"Yes." He said, the next lie slipping easily from his lips. "I am curious as to some old trade agreements, that were made between the villages. Hopefully Katsuye's library will hold some link or reference between the various treaties and agreements made throughout the years."

"But why do I have to read?" Naruto asked, the words slipping from his mouth in a horrified gasp.

"Because the work will go much faster that way my boy."

* * *

Nearly an hour later, Tadakatsu smiled as he placed four thick books infront of Naruto, who looked at the pages like they were diseased, sitting down at his own desk with his own tomes that he'd already read a few times already.

The first three he'd placed infront of the boy were books regarding the history of the Shinobi nationts, with the first being a general book, the second and third being more specific to Iwa, and the three minor villages of Ame, Taki and Kusa.

The last, after he read through those first three of course, was a copy on the Shodaime Tsuchikage's notes on the tactical employment of ninjutsu and defenses against genjutsu.

As he sat down, he smiled to himself in congratulations. The boy needed to grow a little sharper in mind before he could be trained in body.

* * *

Well. "Toonami is back bitches."

Kinda short, but its been a LOOONG time since I updated this story. So I'm kinda getting back into the swing of things hopefully it entertained even though it was fillerish.

One thing I do not want to do as I did in the original write up of "The Void" is just skip over Naruto's training, because I noticed that it just gave me an excuse to pull out freakin Deus Ex Machina's whenever Naruto was facing some new challenge. So this time I hope to shape it up a bit more, by chapter 17 I hope to largely get past the training and be able to more or less get back to some content that the original "Void" story had already branched into, like when he met Hana and such.


	12. The Cell

_Consider: A powerful technique, in the hands of an inept wielder, against the rudimentary abilities of gennin in the hands of a master Which would prevail?_

Naruto's eyes scanned the paper intently, sitting on the dry grass of the home's expansive garden he blinked owlishly at the words from the book Tadakatsu gave him by accident.

_The answer is rather obvious. You know it already. Or that is to say, you don't._

Naruto's face scrunched up, his brows knitting close together as he squinted at the page, glaring at it as though it was guilty of some foul transgression.

_You don't know which one of these two opposing forces will win because you do not know the circumstances surrounding the wielders._

_If I told you, the Master wielding the gennin abilities, was pinned and unable to move for some reason while the powerful fool could still move freely, the picture changes, all the same if I tell you the fool tripped at the last moment before he could cast his attack, leaving him open, again the events changes._

Naruto's tight features eased, comprehension coming now as he followed the script.

_It is ultimately not the power of the technique, or even to an extent, the innate skill of the wielder. It is the circumstances surrounding them, and the ability to manipulate those circumstances and capitalize on the opportunities they provide, or better yet, to make sure that the opportunities granted are always in your favor_

He nodded, as though he was actually listening to someone lecturing these words to him rather than reading them in Iruka sensei's imagined voice..

_Those who are always aware of their surroundings, who can map every branch, every rock and every blade of grass in whatever place they might find the need to fight, hold the greatest chance of wielding, and shaping events to be in their favor. _

_You must first learn to become fully aware of your surroundings at all times to protect yourself and ensnare your enemies. This will be your first lesson._

* * *

Tadakatsu was hardly fooled.

He had to admit, the boy was showing some dedication to his, in other words 'the client's' wishes by placing his clone to continue reading through the library while he studied the book out in the family grounds-ahem-_in secret._

Commendable from a _certain_ point of view.

But the whole point in leaving that book there was so Naruto would ask him if he could be excused from reading through the rest of these books while he went off with that one to read it completely.

He would have allowed it, even gone off to offer tips. The Nidaime Tsuchikage's stratagems were unorthodox, and the training methodology expressed was _unusual _at times to say the least. He feared that the boy would just end up wasting his time or worse yet grow frustrated.

Not for the first time he considered dropping the veneer of unbloodied citizen, that he was not even truly _working_ on maintaining. To show the boy that he too was a Shinobi.

But a large part of him wanted Naruto to figure it out. It was an important lesson in and of itself. Sleeper agents could lay low for _years_ sometimes evendecades. Entire lifetimes spent on a single flip of a switch when the moment or order came in to finally end the targets life.

He felt that him simply_...revealing_ his nature would just cheapen the severity of it. Naruto needed to be aware that these people needed to be_ discovered_ and that he needed to keep his eyes open for it. They were not going to just come out and _reveal _themselves. At least not until their daggers were in his throat.

The clone was reading several of the more _'useless' _books in the repertoire, at least to stall him for a few days while Naruto finished but he didn't like the idea that Naruto, the real one would miss out on valuable material by leaving his clones here to read for him even after he finished with the three or so training and tactic manuals Tadakatsu had picked out for him to read through and learn not counting the other tomes he had laid out for history and geographies.

The former Taki nin sighed through his nostrils. "I'm going to get something to drink." He said, closing the book he'd been 'reading'.

The clone who was pretending not to be a clone raised his head. "Huh? Oh yeah sure old man."

"Would you like something?" He asked, more out of courtesy and for appearances sake. Clones couldn't drink.

"Nah I'm good thanks."

Tadakatsu nodded and stepped out of the library.

* * *

When Tadakatsu walked out into Katsuye's back yard, shrouded beneath the veil of an invisibility Genjutsu. He expected to see Naruto still reading, or engaging in some kind of phisical exercise the book entailed, one of the rudimentary ones that could be accomplished by one's self. Maybe if he was hopeful, he would entertain the notion to have caught Naruto meditating.

So he was understandably floored when he stepped out to see nearly a hundred clones hammering out some kind of odd...manmade bamboo forest, literally hammering in half cut down Bamboo stems with rocks, each tree nearly six feet tall, the clones were standing on eachother's shoulders to slam their makeshift hammers onto the Bamboo, digging it into the ground inch by inch.

He barely had the presence of mind to step out of one clone's way as he tugged and pulled at a ninja wire, as strong as he could, making certain the wire was as taut as it could be from one bamboo stem to another before wrapping it and pulling it over to the next one.

Tadakatsu blinked, only half worried that Katsuye might be...miffed...at the sudden remodeling of his garden when he eventually got back later in the day but _infinitely_ curious as to what in the _hell_ Naruto was actually doing.

He waited.

It wasn't until another hour had passed that Tadakatsu had mannaged to gain some idea as to what exactly Naruto was building here.

If he was right, he actually had to give the boy some credit for creative thinking.

There were certainly simpler, more effective methods he could think of for training and achieving acute environmental awareness, as he knew the book stressed in its opening chapters, but the boy was good at improvising with what he had on hand.

Of course, if anyone was overly attached to a sizable portion of the Bamboo trees on the villages outer edge just a few hundred yards away from the manse, they might also be a bit miffed at Naruto's liberal use of what he considered to be "on hand" materials.

Finally all the clones disperesed, and Tadakatsu negotiated his way through a surprisingly carefully implemented network of ninja wire as he made his way closer to the center of this contraption.

The irony that Naruto was specifically training in environmental awareness was not lost on him.

Still, it was good to see that the boy was trying to learn. Might even be taking some very good steps in the right direction truth be told.

Naruto sat infron't of a pile of pebbles, and three sticks, right in the center of this place, five Bamboo stems around him, fairly evenly spaced, tethers of ninja wire stretched out from the five stems closer to him. Three sticks were laid out a little ways away.

Naruto looked around, then, seemingly realising he was lacking the item he was looking for, he took off one of his shirts and tied it around his head, covering his eyes completely and muffling sound too from what Tadakatsu could tell.

With a single handseal three clones came to being, the three of them picking up the sticks that had been laid out and spreading out. Tadakatsu raised an eyebrow, feeling Naruto's chakra spike a bit. He wished he could have the Sharingan, or some other doujutsu to be certain, but he was willing to guess the boy was channeling his chakra into the ninja wire around him.

_Hmm._

One of the clones struck a Bamboo stem with the stick, a sharp _Thwak_ cutting through the peaceful day and Naruto immediately grabbed a pebble, holding it ready, just as another clone hit another bamboo stem, yards away from the previous one.

Naruto threw.

And missed horrendously.

He was in the same vicinity really. But in the same way a Bull was in the same vicinity as an Ox. He aimed in the right..._direction_ but that was about all he got out of it.

Another _thwak_

Another pebble.

Another miss.

Tadakatsu Hmmed. In truth, it wasn't that the boy was doing it wrong, far from it in fact.

The problem was that he was trying to run before he could walk.

He was trying to _catch_ his clones with burst sensory input. A single sound, trying to judge distance and direction in the span of a second. No matter how loud the sound the human mind needed time to process it, unless one trained the reflex. To train the reflex the mind needed to depend less and less on constant sensory input. Naruto was on the right track with the blind fold, but right there that was enough on its own for his stage, he needed to rely on his sense of hearing now, then after that on the sense of touch, then on the sense of smell. Four of the five senses trained to peak efficiency before he had a hope of doing the exercise he was attempting right now.

Tadakatsu hmmed again, carefully extricating himself from the network of wire and half chopped down trees.

Then, he dropped the Genjutsu and walked right back in.

He was unsurprised to see Naruto's hand twitch, finding a peble and raising his limb before promptly throwing it at him.

It would have missed, off by an inch or so from his shoulder, but that was a far better than what he'd seen previously and he needed to make the point, stepping into the pebble's path, it was a somewhat sharp sting to his collarbone that brought the tiny rock to a dead halt.

He grunted, and the sound made Naruto's head rise a bit, curious before he brought his hands to raise the jacket covering his eyes.

The boy looked around, and it wasn't long before he spotted the former Taki nin rubbing the spot where the rock had hit.

"Hey old man!" Naruto yelled, half in surprise, half in unease before he looked around. Holding his hands up in a placating gesture, he smiled. "I can explain everything!"

Tadakatsu placed a stern expression over his features deciding to humor him.

* * *

A few moments later, Tadakatsu eyed the blond boy, making something of a show of looking around his constructed training area. "I see. How many of your clones did you hit so far?"

"Uhhh." At that Naruto looked nervous. "Well..." He scratched the back of his head. "None. But I haven't been doing it long before you showed up."

Tadakatsu smirked. "You hit me rather well. Why such difficulty with them?" He gestured to the clones. I'd been moving, they hadn't. Isn't it easier to hit a still target?"

"Well yeah but I could hear you old man. My clones hit the sticks and then move all sneaky like. Its harder to figure out where they are, even when I try to put my Chakra into the wire.

"Ahh." Tadakatsu nodded, and fought to hide down a smile as Naruto got a thoughtful look on his face.

"Hmmm...Hey. Ya think I should have my clones move around?"

"Hmm? For what purpose?" He had to admit, while the boy seemed largely oblivious on the larger scale of things, for certain things that he _wanted_ he was proving surprisingly adept at picking them apart.

"Well...Its hard to hit them now, but maybe if I get used to hitting them just by listening I'll be able to get better? Makes sense right?"

Tadakatsu nodded. "Hmm..."

* * *

Inside the manse, the clone sighed, aggravated, realizing that he was still stuck on the same line for ten minutes now, the words starting to blend together.

It was talking about fruit and some kage or other. Not any of the Hokage's

He rubbed his eyes irritated. "They don't pay me enough for this." It grumbled.

And with a puff of smoke, it dispelled.

* * *

He was getting better...

Slowly...very...very...slowly.

But he was getting better.

He could effectively hit his targets one out of every ten throws give or take, with the clones running closer and farther away from him, dragging their sticks to smack against the bamboo as they passed it by and Naruto throwing the rocks.

To be perfectly fair though while he was training his sense of hearing, more than his sense of awareness, this was also probably doing a lot of good to his weapon accuracy. The rocks may not have the same weight or aerodynamic capabilities as a kunai knife, but the boy would quickly adjust and compensate for that when he picked up the knives again.

It was not the best or the most expeditious training it would get him results, and some easy wordplay down the road would allow him to suggest ideas to the boy in a way that would let the Uzumaki believe that he ultimately came up with them.

Overall, he could say he was fairly pleased with this development truth be told.

At least, he felt so until each of the boy's clones suddenly dispelled and he fell flat on his back.

Confusion grew to alarm, and alarm to concern as he realized the boy was not exactly moving.

He rushed forward, blurring across the field and the stakes of bamboo as he fell to his knees besides this all too important child.

"Naruto!" He shouted, shaking him lightly as he removed the blindfold.

To his immense relief, the youth blinked, his face scrunching up with pain as one hand moved to his forehead.

"Old man?"

"What happened?" He asked, helping the boy reach a sitting position, making sure there was no blood or wounds of any kind.

Naruto blinked, his face scrunching up again. "Did you kno the Shodaime Raikage based his first jutsu on his favorite fruit?"

The expression on Tadakatsu's face, many of his old enemies would have found priceless.

* * *

When Katsuye returned, having left work and picked up his two wonderful daughters from their respective schools, the last thing he expected to find was that he had more guests.

But he did find such.

All of them blond.

True that they were primarily confined to the library at the moment, but even so their voices carried through the entire mansion as they poured over his extensive collection of books.

He looked to his friend Tadakatsu for an answer, as to why there were so many clones here, and the former Taki ninja's smile was a familiar one.

Whatever Tadakatsu had discovered in Katsuye's absence, he liked it.

A lot.

* * *

Jiraiya didn't like this, he didn't like it one bit.

In truth, the only thing he _did_ like was the fact that he was allowed to pick the meeting spot.

A nice, rural little farming village just shy of the borders of bird country. Not a lot of ninja traffic, hardly anyone really knew about it, it had a modest rice trade, and that was about it.

He had his escape routes and backups laid out. Obvious traps, not so obvious traps and some he'd gotten _really_ creative with incase this whole thing went south.

A part of him was actually hoping it would if he were honest with himself. Actually hoping, not just banking on it.

He stood by the open road just outside the villages edge, some of the rice farmers offering wary looks or hesitant, handwave greetings as they passed by, which he returned, before placing his arms back across his chest and tapping his foot, waiting impatiently.

Finally, he sees the _snake_ making his way closer.

Even with a cloak and a large straw hat obscuring his face Orochimaru still seemed ridiculously out of place in the light of day.

His displeased grimace as he looked around brought a petty little smile to Jiraiya's lips.

"You couldn't have chosen anywhere else?" The snake hissed.

"Sure. How bout Konoha's Anbu HQ?"

The snake rolled his eyes. "Imbecile. Lets just wait, the others should be arriving shortly."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, the muscles beneath his clothing bulging. "Others?"

Orochimaru waved him off with an annoyed growl. "Oh come off it. If I was going to attack you with back up I would hardly have told you they'd be coming."

Grudgingly, Jiraiya allowed himself to wait.

Though he hardly relaxed.

Jiraiya was practically counting the seconds before Orochimaru swiveled his head to the opposite end of the road. "There they are."

Jiraiya turned to look over his shoulder and damn near choked as he did a quick double-take.

He only realised he was staring like a slack-jawed idiot when Orochimaru's scathing voice cut through the air. "Close your mouth fool."

Then their guests were standing infront of them, the four of them standing in a loose circle.

Kisame was the first to speak, smiling to show off his large, shark like teeth. "Didn't know we'd be having frog legs for dinner."

"This explains the unusual meeting point." Itachi said, blinking as he shifted his black eyes from Orochimaru to Jiraiya. "Since when has he been in on this?"

"Since you let the boy slip your grasp." Orochimaru hissed. "I tried to take steps to see him found...but it seems that was for nothing."

Jiraiya for his part, watched the bizzare exchange. All of his information said that Orochimaru loathed or feared Itachi, the two Nuke nin couldn't be within the same stretch of a hundred miles, let alone standing a hands breath apart.

But they were indeed, talking like nothing. And discussing a very specific jinchuuriki in non hostile terms.

He pulsed the chakra through his system, checking for genjutsu or other falsitudes, seeing nothing.

This did not seem like a show that was being put on for his benefit either.

Which made this look more true than anything else.

He was starting to get aheadache.

"Aww come on now, I wouldn't say for nothing." Kisame chuckled. "We have someone new to talk shop with at our tea parties. You two tend to get old quick."

"Shut up Kisame."

The Monster of Kiri shrugged, smirking before he turned his eyes onto Orochimaru. "So wha'd the lady say?"

_'Lady?'_ The toad sannin wondered.

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed. "She wants us to back off."

"Ohhh." Kisame hissed through his teeth. "That definitely had to sting something bad when you heard it yellow eyes."

"Back off?" Itachi asked with a raised eyebrow. "Just let him wander off unprotected?"

"Another cell has him now."

Either this was the most well choreographed lie in human history or it really was genuine. Jiraiya wasn't sure which he would find more hilarious if he were an outsider.

"Damn." Kisame's clicked his tongue. "So what do we do now?"

"We continue with our previous operations as best we can. Until we get word on where Naruto is we can't do much more."

"Then what? Play nice with whatever cell has him?"

"Better to ask for forgiveness than permission." Orochimaru hissed. "We get him back when we find him."

The shark man grinned. "Nice."

Jiraiya was acutely aware of Itachi's gaze before he turned back to Orochimaru. "And Jiraiya?"

The snake turned his head to face him, reptilian eyes glaring at his once upon a time teammate. "I'll bring him up to speed." He adressed the Uchiha without looking away from the white haired nin. "You two just continue as usual, and keep your ears to the ground for any word on Naruto. We need to keep him safe, even more so now that Akatsuki is wondering where he is.

The two S class Nuke nin nodded before they turned and began leaving the same way they came.

Jiraiya watched the entire exchange, his gaze turning to Orochimaru as the man turned to leave as well.

"Come on fool." The pale man hissed. "There is a lot you need to be made aware of."

Jiraiya knew he was going to regret this.

He turned and fell in step beside the snake with the venomous bite.

* * *

Whelp Here ya go. Hope the chap is to your liking.

This one was really more or less to set up the foundation for Naruto's training for the time being, the next chap will be a bit more divergent and show him adapting into a house role since he'll be staying in the manse for a few months.

At any rate, I hope you all enjoyed it and I hope to have another chapter for you soon.


	13. The agent

"Oi!"

Niko, turned her head, a stray lock of dark hair, nearly whipping her eye as she found Naruto waving his arms high over his head as Uncle Tadakatsu stood up from the bench, his normal gray cloak still over his shoulders even with the blistering heat today.

She tugged on Sachii's hand, bringing her little sister's attention away from the dirt she was kicking. "Sachii look."

Her little sister turned her head, a smile lighting up her whole face as she yanked her hand out of Niko's and sprinted over. "Naruto-nii!" She screamed, glomping the blond thirteen year old in a way that ensured maximum spinal damage as she coiled her arms around Naruto's neck and landed flat against his chest, making the boy teeter precariously as though he was about to fall, only to be saved by Tadakatsu placing a supporting hand on his back.

"Where's father?" Niko asked curiously as she came within speaking distance.

"He was delayed with business." Tadakatsu answered simply. "Something about a shipment not coming in on time. I told him I would be more than glad to pick you both up from your lessons. Naruto volunteered to accompany me."

The aforementioned blond smiled, holding Sachii up, her little legs colliding with his knees as she dangled from his grip.

Niko frowned a bit "But, weren't you busy at home?"

"Ahh don't worry. My clones can handle the reading!"

Tadakatsu nodded. The discovery just a week ago of Naruto's ability to absorb information from his dispelled clones was proving to be an extremely fast training measure.

Normally, a ninja that tried such would suffer brutal brain hemmorages and side effects that could all but knock him into a coma. The boy was not the first to discover the usage of clones for training, but so far, because of his status as a Jinchuuriki, his mind was proving very resilient.

He was uncertain if it was simply because of the inherent mental strength, or the will required to house a Bijuu. An innately powerful force of nature in and of itself, or if the Kitsune was actively healing him or buffering him from the side effects, but whatever it was it was a situation he was more than willing to take advantage of.

Indeed, outside of blacking out for an hour, and a headache worthy of a migraine Naruto himself was more than willing to abuse this newfound ability. Tadakatsu was the one that had advised him to limit himself to three clones.

Just under a week, and the boy was already done with seventeen books of Katsuye's library.

From here to five months...well...

It was also astonishing how well he retained the information.

In truth, he remembered what his clones read better than what he himself read.

He wasn't sure why, but he could guess that due to the very nature of the memory transfer it was bypassing everything a normal person went through when learning. The assimilation of the knowledge was instantaneous rather than gradual. Time would tell if these memories would fade with time as normal, but so far, almost every question he asked the boy he remembered almost off hand.

Now all he would have to do was teach the boy how to properly apply the knowledge he was gaining.

It shouldn't be...impossible.

"Uncle Katsu."

He turned his eyes to Sachii, who stared up at him with those big doe eyes.

His intuition was telling him to find an escape route.

His mouth betrayed him. "Yes dear?"

_Dammit!_

"Lets get candy!"

He sighed in relief. At least this time it didn't involve a contraption with wheels and a slide.

* * *

Kushina felt her ruby red lips pull up into a smile. "I see." She sipped at her drink, enjoying the sake's warmth as she leaned back against her seat, staring up at the man across from her.

It would have been difficult to peg his age really. Though he was definitely over thirty. His voice was as though someone had scraped the inside of his voicebox with sand paper. Straw colored hair reaching down to his shoulders in brittle, dead locks, almost uncared for. A trimmed beard, much finer than Tadakatsu's framed his mouth and chin, though easily the most attention grabbing feature was his eye.

Or perhaps the very obvious lack of one.

"I take it I have your permission then?"

"Tadakatsu wanted to take the boy to the dog." She commented, nursing the cup as she crossed one leg over the other.

"Of course he did." The man answered dismissively. "He would teach the boy how to use his brains. The dog would teach him how to use his fists. Smart, in most cases."

Her smile widened. "Oh? But not this one?"

"No." He corrected, staring straight at her, he was one of the few who ever did hold her gaze. "Its still smart. The boy would learn much between the two of them. But we are rapidly running out of time."

Her smile dropped. All levity leaving her posture as she leaned forward. "You've learned something then?"

"Perhaps." He ventured carefully. "I take it you've heard about the assassination of the Kumo Daimio's son by now."

"I'd heard of stirrings. It hasn't reached the normal people's ears yet of course but others with their ears to the ground are saying Iwa was behind it."

"And people would be right. Or at least the people that did it were wearing the stone headbands."

"You think they're finally making some kind of move? In Kumo?"

"Kumo or Iwa, either one will be severely weakened by an open declaration of war. And this time it won't just be ninja since they targeted the Daimio. It'll be the whole force. Samurai, cavalry, I've already heard of postings for mercenaries that are being called in by both countries."

She leaned back again on her lounge chair. "Hmm...I guess even Kumo's daimio can grow a backbone when his family is attacked.

"So can any man. What matters is simple, both countries will have their undersides exposed now. Infiltrations can happen at the drop of a hat with massive recruitment efforts. Accidents on the field of battle are far from unheard of."

This time she frowned "And we have allies in both countries-"

"That can be targeted if they've been compromised." He said finishing her sentence. "We're thinking the same thing."

She sighed, a huff of air through her nostrils. "And here I'd hoped to just enjoy a drink."

"You do that enough." He said, the miniscule tilt of his lips showing he was joking for a moment before it dropped. "What do you want to do?"

"I need to think on it. Kumo and Iwa won't go to war in a day."

He nodded, conceding the point. "And regarding my taking the boy?"

She half shrugged, half nodded. "Finish off your business and you can go jump off a cliff until I need you again for all I care." She smirked. "You'll have to talk to Tadakatsu about it though."

"Already am." He said. His body beginning to vanish in wisps of smoke from his feet up.

She raised an eyebrow. "You knew I'd say yes?"

What was left of his torso shrugged. "Of course you would Kushina."

* * *

"Do you remember the time, you took your first horse riding lessons?" Tadakatsu snickered behind a clenched fist. "Your father was was so terrified we actually had to give him medication!"

Niko's hands covered her mouth, laughter hissing through her teeth, "And then when the horse reared up!"

Tadakatsu guffawed, his hands slapping at his knee. "Oh by the gods! I thought the man's heart fell into his boots along with the rest of his blood; he was so pale!"

"And he screamed so loud!" She agreed. "Half the village must have heard him."

"Half the village? My dear, his business partners eight villages away heard him." He smiled as she laughed, looking over to where Naruto and a clone were swinging little Sachii by her arms, her feet kicking the empty air as she giggled and squealed, with Naruto lifting her over the variety of small obstacles the park provided for them.

The girl was laughing louder than any of them, with Naruto grinning from ear to ear.

Niko caught his look her curiosity piquing. "So who is he exactly?"

He turned to look at her. "Hmm?"

"This Naruto. He's nice, but who exactly is he uncle? You always show up alone every few months."

"Just a boy my dear. Who just needed a bit more help than he realized at the time."

"Well Sachii seems to like him, that's for sure." She commented with a shrug of her shoulders.

_Of course she does. She finally has someone to be loud with.' _He thought to himself, still smiling.

A moment later, his smile faltered, a flicker at the edge of conscious thought.

He stood, "Well my dear I'm going to get something to drink. Would you like something?"

Niko shook her head, pulling out a book from her bag before she started leafing through the pages.

He began to walk off, only to hear Naruto's voice. "Hey old man! Where ya goin?"

"To get a drink. Would you like one?"

The blond shook his head, his grin still as wide as he'd ever seen, as he used one arm to hold Sachii up as she dangled from her knees on one of the parks monkey bars.

He walked off.

It wasn't very long before he heard that gravel on rock voice. "Didn't take you for a family man Tadakatsu. It suits you."

"What are you doing here?" The gray robed man questioned, turning his gaze towards the straw haired man that barely stepped out of the alley to speak.

The man turned his head back in Naruto's direction. "Wanted to get a look at my soon to be pupil."

That made the former Taki nin raise an eyebrow. "Your- You're going to train Naruto?"

"That is my intent." He answered, even though he knew the question was more rhetorical than anything else. "You may have had your heart set on the Dog. But once I have concluded my business and have affairs in order enough for it to manage itself for a few months. I'll be back for him."

"And how long will that take."

"Two months, perhaps three." He admitted. "Don't train him too hard. Whatever you teach him I'll have to override when I take over. So the more you do the more I'll have to undo."

"I'm focusing more on the boys academics at the moment." Tadakatsu admitted.

"Good. A blade is only as deadly as the mind wielding it. Allow the boy this leisure time. But make sure he knows what exactly he's in the middle of by the time I've returned."

"What exactly makes you so sure he doesn't already?" The black haired Taki nin asked, crossing his arms as he raised an eyebrow.

"Because...I know you. And you're smarter than the average imbecile who decides to train a student. You'd want him to have the brains to figure it out on his own. And have enough patience to not give in at the first bump in the proverbial road."

"Your skills have always been invaluable. You being tied down with a student seems to be a waste."

"My thanks on the confidence." The man responded blandly. "But Neither you nor the dog can prepare him as well as I can to fight, Sharingan wielders."

"There aren't very many left." He groused in response.

"No. But out of the last three alive with those eyes two are his enemies and he might have to fight the third one day regardless."

Tadakatsu huffed a breath; a fair point. "And Kushina approves?"

"Do you think I'd be talking with you if she didn't?"

"I will corroborate this with her."

"Of course you will. You are, as I said, smarter than the average imbecile.

"So what business are you exactly dealing with?"

"Primarily intelligence. A lot of movement has been occurring in a great many places. I need to find out why. Particularly the snake."

Tadakatsu's eyes narrowed. The murderer of their previous grand master was not a name spoken in fondness. "Orochimaru? I'd heard he'd been rather subdued of late."

"You heard wrong. The snakes movements have been erratic." The straw haired man answered. "I need to look into it. Akatsuki has been stirred as well. Uchiha Itachi and Kisame to be precise. Its rare for any of my contacts to loose total knowledge of people's movements. But for the last two months? Not even a sneeze from either of them. A novelty for a seven foot tall shark man I'm sure. Rumor has it they attacked Naruto himself during that same mission where they lost the younger Uchiha to the serpent."

"But that was only weeks ago. Naruto has not said anything of the sort?"

"Why would he? Regardless, even outside of Oto and Akatsuki there are other things at work. Like I said, train the boy, but allow him this leisure time. Things will only get harder from here on out I'm sure."

Tadakatsu raised an eyebrow. "Why such concern with him enjoying himself."

"Orphan boy, largely neglected from normal family life. You've provided him a window to experience such a thing now. Something that **_is_ **important, especially in a child who has scored in the ninety-seventh percentile for protective instincts."

"You've managed to read his file?"

"Of course I did. So did you. So did Kushina."

Tadakatsu rolled his eyes a bit.

The man turned, moving to leave as quickly as he'd come.

"How do you know the boy would even want to go with you?"

"His wants are no more important than ours. It'll be his first lesson to learn."

Tadakatsu snorted, his brows creasing. "Three months then...hmm."

* * *

Kinda short truth be told, and done mainly to introduce this new character. But ultimately Naruto's life with Tadakatsu in this village will be expanded on a little more, and a rough estimate of when the "training" arc is going to end would be around chapter 18 give or take, at least as far as its planned so far.

Anyway, like I said, filler and short, but the next chapter will have a lot more meat on its bones I promise.


	14. The explanation

Rain sucks.

Naruto determined this, and really, he used to like the rain.

At least as long as it didn't rain every other day like it did here.

Maybe he was being unfair, what with them being somewhat close to Ame and it being near autumn and all but all it did here was _rain._

He was so sick of getting drenched whenever he walked out of that house.

Sometimes it was good for his awareness training, after he'd learned to hear the sound of rain striking flesh and clothes it actually helped surprisingly, but there were only so many days that you could walk into a home, dripping from head to toe and freezing cold that one could stomach.

His feet pound on the muddy ground, he nearly trips when his feet slide on the slick surface, catching himself before landing flat on his ass, he keeps running.

He passes by villagers that barely spare him a second glance, each of them running home to avoid the downpour as best they could, or perhaps save their groceries.

He reaches the gates of the estate, slipping inside, he closes it behind him with a screech of hinges, Running over to the front porch, he knocks on the door.

One of the maids answers it, she smiles and steps aside to allow him in. He looks around. She winks. Miss Sachii is with Master Katsuye now. The Master is...her lips tightened, laughter caught in the hollow of her cheek. "Playing house, so to speak."

He smiles wide, muttering a quick thanks before he slipped past her.

* * *

Tadakatsu looks ridiculous.

Furthermore. He _knows_ he looks ridiculous.

Frilly polka-dotted pink aprons were not made to be worn by men.

Ever.

He's not sure how the hell this happened.

But apparently, out of the entire houseful of maids he is the ONLY one that knew how to bake. The normal person they called to bake was sick.

Why does a top ranking Nuke-nin, who is a member of a clandestine organization know how to bake?

Well, it involved a bet, an infiltration mission, an explosion, several million dollars worth of damages in the weight of stuffed animals, a cook book and a rusty oven.

And that's all that will be said on the subject.

The cake is done really, all that's missing is the-

"I'm here!" Naruto all but shouts as he barrels into the kitchen.

"Good, you're just in time."

When the blond hands him the frosting tool, filled already from the bakers with the frosting they'd ordered, Tadakatsu quickly begins putting in the final touches.

He looks to the blond, still dripping wet all over the nice clean kitchen floor. The maids had just mopped that too.

"Go and get yourself changed, you can't exactly arrive looking like you've taken on the role of the villages spear fisherman."

"Oh right." And the bot immediately flees.

* * *

They're sitting in a room, kneeling behind some furniture. All of Sachii's classmates along with their parents and several of the maids were there too. The most surprising part to Niko was that the six year olds around them were doing a better job at sitting still than Naruto.

He shifted, fidgeted, peeked his head up over the furniture at random intervals. It was almost funny really. Like watching a jittery cat.

He was dressed in dark blue. Her father never threw out anything. He gave him some old shirts of his to wear from the days of his early teenage years, and even though they were a bit big on him, with a seam here and a hemming there he was able to wear it rather well all things considered.

"Keep still." Her uncle chided. "They'll be here soon."

Naruto didn't protest, he indeed did sit still for the rest of the time they waited until her father and sister's voices could be heard coming down the hallway, then he perked up again.

She was sure the boy was going to jump out of his skin before they heard her father say the code words.

"Do you remember that old toy of yours Sachii-"

And just like that everyone rose up to their feet, shouting at the top of their lungs.

**Surprise!**

* * *

The rain helped to hide him from the unwary, resting within the thin shell of greenery, he watched the men as they patrolled the building.

Two on the rooftop, six at the front entrance, two outside, the other four in. There were at least three on the second story. There were no windows on the third.

They were alert, which is more than he could say for most guards. They were not strong, he could kill them, but that would take time, and lacked subtlety.

He saw someone else...out the back, a man, not a guard, older. A servant by the looks of him.

_Perfect_.

* * *

When it was time to start opening presents, Naruto felt panic rise in his chest.

He didn't get her one!

He inched his way over to Tadakatsu hissing up at him as discreetly as he could while the older male watched his youngest niece rip open another present, she was presented with surrounded by her friends, sister and father.. "Psst. Old man!"

When Tadakatsu turned to look down at him, Naruto all but fidgeted in place. "I didn't get her anything."

Tadakatsu smiled a kindly smile, pulling out a wrapped gift, about the size of a large book.

"You could present this to her."

"But that's yours!" The blond protested.

"Say it is from both of us."

"But-"

Tadakatsu's kindly smile grew just a bit. "Don't worry. Now give it to her." Turning him around he pushed the boy a bit so he was standing closer, 'volunteering' to present the next gift.

Katsuye smiled at him where he sat next to Sachii, the little girls eyes were fixated on the last gift she'd opened until her father nudged her.

Her face lit up when she saw him with the gift wrapped package, and his heart sank a little knowing he hadn't really gotten her anything.

He held the gidt forward, handing it to her, she took it and ripped it open.

And inside were four scrolls.

Naruto's brow crinkled, but Sachii's face lit up with the brightest smile he'd ever seen. She released a gasp, so delighted that he had to take a closer look at the scrolls to see just what was so special.

The first one he didn't recognize, but the labels on the other three were all very easy to recall.

_Bunshin, Kawarimi, Henge._

"Thank you Nii-chan!" She squealed, jumping up and doing her best to hug him until his spine snapped at the neck.

Tadakatsu chuckled, more or less coming to his rescue as he stepped up behind the hapless boy. "You'll have to practice at it every day if you want to learn Sachii."

She nodded, shaking her head so fast her hair whipped over her eyes and forehead.

She felt something slipping over her head. She blinked, looking up at the strange fabric now decorating her forehead, a glint of metal could be seen just beyond the peripheral.

She reached up, pulling it free, and found a leaf headband glimmering back at her.

She looked to Naruto, now free of the piece of clothing., his wild hair let loose across his head.

He smiled at her. "When you learn to do those, then you can wear that okay?

She looked down at the headband, her smile still present. She was too young to understand the significance of it, this piece of clothing, but Naruto felt good giving it to her.

It was his headband, he'd worked to get it...but it wasn't his village anymore was it?

He smiled as best he could, slipping on his most convincing grin as someone else stepped forward to show their gift. Sachii turned, putting the scrolls and their case down right next to her as she looked to the next person.

* * *

The tray was light in his hands, the food atop it carrying a delightful scent. He made his way up the stairs and through the halls, passing by a variety of unsavory sorts as he came closer to his destination.

Finally, he saw two guards at the door, one of them eyed the food but made no comment.

Finally the man opened the door, pushing it wide.

He stepped through, walking up the last set of stairs.

The master of the house was agitated, brow furrowed in thought, palms sweaty leaning over a map with five full suitcases by the doorway.

The man looked up when he entered. "Ahh Shugen. Leave it there. I'll get to it later.

"As you wish sir."

Placing the tray down, the older servant bowed. "Will there be something else you'll require sir?"

"No nothing you may go."

"By your leave then sir."

* * *

"I thought your headbands were important to you"

Naruto turned his head finding Tadakatsu sliding the door closed behind him as he stepped out to the outside hallway.

Naruto shrugged. "It is. I'll...get another one when I get back to Konoha.

Tadakatsu nodded, "Is the mark of your allegiance so replaceable then?"

Naruto's face slackened for a moment, surprised, or perhaps dumbfounded at the question. "No. I'll always be loyal to my home. Its just...she'll appreciate it...right?"

Tadakatsu walked forward, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, looking down at him. "Naruto. Is there something you wish to speak of?"

Naruto's face scrunched up, then he grinned again, that smile spreading once more. "Nah old man. Go back inside, I'll just stay out here for a bit. Maybe practice my awareness again.

"Don't overdo it then." He answered after a moment, turning and marching back inside.

* * *

"Sir."

Shugen stepped into the room, once more near midnight eying his employer and the empty tray on his desk.

"Did you enjoy dinner sir?"

"Yes, very good." He answered not looking up from a file he was reading. "Take the tray and go do what you wish, I won't be needing you for the rest of the night Shugen."

"Thank you sir. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed your last meal."

It took them man a moment, a blink as his brain caught up with the words.

He moved to stand, only for his words to choke off in his throat, his neck stretching and his eyes bulging wide in shock, the papers falling from his hands as he clutched at his neck, grasping at something.

Shuzen stood there, face placid, the wrinkles fading, the skin becoming taut and firm, tanned rather than pale, the bald scalp replaced by a head of sand hair, the mustache thickening, becoming darker, growing around his lips, one eye hollowing and blackening until it revealed an eyepatch, the other eye shifting from dull brown to sharp green.

The dying man shook his head. 'Y-yo-"

It tightened.

A chain.

It was a chain. Coiled around his neck, rising up to the ceiling before pivoting somewhere above to return to the grip of its owner, extending from the end of a rod in his hand, its slate grey iron body proving more menacing than a sword, all harsh edges and bandied steel.

* * *

Tadakatsu woke the next morning with a sigh, detecting the glimmer of a chakra presence still outside the house.

The boy had stayed up all night.

It wasn't a surprise. He'd rather expected it truth be told.

He stood, groaning as his back popped, throwing on his clothes he left the room.

* * *

The body hung stiff, its eyes bulging and tongue black as it stuck out of his victims mouth. The smell of urine thick in the room as he worked, sealing documents, sifting through records, a casche of information he would have to sort through in greater detail later.

Most of what he saw was finances, but one file in particular, the one his target had been perusing shortly before his death, was most interesting.

It did not hold troop movements, financial records, future plans. No. It only held a person. A boy to be precise of twelve, with bright blond hair and blue eyes.

He closed his eye sighing. Not with dismay, or agitation.

Annoyance.

* * *

In hindsight; perhaps Tadakatsu should have expected this.

Feet planted over the bark of a tree trunk, nearly twenty feet in the air with a blond child staring up at him with the widest smile on his face, pointing with one finger as his shirt all but slipped off of him as he dangled from his ankle.

"Hah! I knew it!" He yelled with something very much like triumph in his voice.

He'd been sleeping. Or...better to say the boy had been pretending to sleep. That should have perhaps, been his first clue that something was odd. Naruto possessed a boundless energy and ever since he'd discovered the ability of his clones to absorb information, he could be found almost every day training until it was time to eat or until he or someone else, particularly Sachii, called him away.

The second thing that should have probably given it away was that the boy had been laying on a tree branch.

It was not uncommon for Anbu or Jounin to catch rest where they could on missions that brought them into enemy territory but for a gennin to sleep on the rough bark of a tree rather than the comparatively soft ground...

Tadakatsu had marched out into the yard, determined to wake the boy with a shout when, before he could get a word in edgewise Naruto had promptly rolled over, falling straight down to crash on his head.

Perhaps that perfect timing should have tipped him off as well.

But at the moment, the act did not matter, only the boys un-broken neck, and the fact that he wanted to keep it very much the way it was.

He'd jumped; catching the boy by his ankle.

Only to find himself exactly where he found himself now, with Naruto staring up at him with the biggest smile threatening to split his face open.

* * *

"What the hell do you want letch?"

Tsunade's voice was harsh, all but growling as she entered her office and found Jiraiya lounging on one of the chairs.

The pervert smiled, and Tsunade knew something was off in an instant. "Hey Hime."

She sighed, aggravated, throwing down her files on the desk before she leaned against the edge, her rump pressing itself against the wooden corner straight across from him. "Alright what the hell is wrong?"

He leaned forward, staring into her eyes. "I need to take a leave for about a month."

She raised an eyebrow. "A leave? Jiraiya you come and go as you please, why is this any-"

"I mean without contact. Any contact." He interrupted. "There are some things I need to corroborate. Make sure of. If I'm not back in five weeks-" He reached into his pocket, handing her a scroll, a time seal glowing across it. "That should open up. Read it. When you do...well...hopefully you'll be smarter than me."

She eyed the scroll, and him for the longest time. She'd thought this was about Naruto. She thought better of that assumption now. If it was about Naruto it wouldn't need nearly as much secrecy or caution. Her teammate genuinely felt he might not come back from this. "Jiraiya what is this? You're worrying me."

He smiled a little wider. "Its just a precaution Hime."

She took the scroll.

Jiraiya moved to stand when she grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt, pulling him so that their noses were practically touching.

"If you fuck up and have me go rescue your sorry ass, on Dan's grave I _swear_ I'll make you regret it."

She pushed him away with a snort, placing the scroll on her desk as she ignored his laugh. "Get out. I have work to do."

He smiled, a soft touch to his features as he left the office. She waited to hear his footsteps become distant, to feel his chakra signature getting further away from the building before she moved again.

When she looked, the captain was already beside her.

She took the scroll, tossing it at his chest where he caught it with a snap of his fingers on its surface. "Get me the seal masters. I want that thing opened by the time the weeks out."

"That long?" He questioned.

"Actually, I'm most likely being unreasonable considering its one of Jiraiya's seals. Get the sealers to work twenty four hours straight if you have to. But get it done."

The man bowed, as you wish.

When he vanished, she sat at her desk, picking up her file and returning to work.

She snorted.

Like she would wait five weeks.

* * *

"So how long have you suspected?"

"A few days now." The boy admitted, unabashed at the fact that they'd been traveling together for weeks now. He smiled up at the man, his hands clasped behind his head.

"What gave me away?" Tadakatsu asked, raising a mocking eyebrow. Though he hadn't really been trying after a certain point he'd still like to know.

"It was all the little things really." Naruto said. "Even though you said you were looking for something in the library you never really told me what it is. You haven't finished one book either. You were real excited when you found out about the clone thing, you also always end up giving good tips whenever I get stuck in my training."

Tadakatsu's eyebrow notched itself a little higher. Those were _little_ things. He'd hate to see what passed for obvious in the boy's mind.

"And the reason for the-" He looked up to the tree "Theatrics?"

Naruto stuck his tongue out. "Well I wasn't just gonna ask you. What if I was wrong? It'd be awkward. And if I was wrong I would have just rescued myself."

"And if you were right and I hadn't moved to catch you and you'd have been forced to save yourself anyway?"

He stopped then, his expression growing flat before his eyes swiveled this way and that way. Thinking.

Tadakatsu chuckled. Innovation was a powerful tool in strategy, but he needed to learn that no plan could account for every variable.

"Yeah well..." The boy ventured. "That didn't happen. Anyway, why were you hiding it in the first place?"

Finally the important question.

"Because it was important for us that you discover it on your own."

It took the boy a second to catch up. "Huh, wait. Us?"

Tadakatsu nodded. "Come on. Let's find a seat, this will be a long conversation I think.

* * *

Serving himself some tea as the early morning mist finally began to dissipate with the increasing heat of the rising sun, Tadakatsu stared at Naruto's expectant eyes before he took a sip.

The older man cleared his throat. "I'll start with a formal introduction then. My name is Takechio Tadakatsu, former jounin of Takigakure."

Naruto smiled. "You already know me."

Tadakatsu's gaze grew serious. "Indeed. Uzumaki Naruto. Former gennin of Konohagakure."

The boy went to nod when the older male continued, stopping him.

"Gennin of cell seven under elite ninja, 'Sharingan no Kakashi'. Former cell members Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke. Graduated from the academy nine months ago. First chuunin examination attempt, three months ago." The boys eyes were getting wider, shock and not a bit of trepidation taking over the confusion. "Mission profile states seventeen D rank missions completed, along with two C rank missions and One impressive A rank in which you encountered the so called 'Demon of the Bloody mist' Momochi Zabusa. Unofficially, you were part of the Toad sannin's excursion in finding Senjuu Tsunade and offering the position of Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure."

He paused, taking another sip of his tea as he stared at the boy's slackjawed expression.

"Your last mission, which ended in failure of your primary objective but notably eliminated five Oto ninja of C rank or higher with the help of auxiliary relief forces from Suna, was the attempted capture and recovery of Uchiha Sasuke."

Placing his now empty teacup down he laced his fingers together before placing his hands atop the table. "Did that cover everything?"

"What the f-"

"We've been watching you for a very long time."

"Who the hell is _we!_"

"We." Tadakatsu began hoping to calm the boy down before he shouted loudly enough to wake the dead. "Is an order of elite ninja from all across the Shinobi lands. We work in small cells, each consisting of no less than three, but no more than six individuals."

"That's not really answering." The boy accused, squinting with unveiled suspicion.

"Its as much as I can answer" He confessed. "For security reasons, the members of one cell do not know the members of another. Only the grandmaster, and the acolyte, his chosen successor, know every member."

"And who are they."

"I will not tell you."

The boy sucked in a breath, ready to protest, quite loudly when Tadakatsu cut him off. "Do not bother demanding an answer, I will not tell you. You're not ready to know."

The boy shut his mouth, looking displeased when he latched onto something else. "Alright well you said you guys all have teams right? Well which is your team then!?"

"I am a member of Cell B, there were five of us once. Now there are only three. An old Iwa ninja named Haseba and another man. We've never known his real name. He only goes by the name Cyrus."

Naruto scrunched up his nose. "That's a weird name."

"Contrary to popular belief, strange names are the most difficult to remember. You can always put the name to a face if you're used to it. But recalling a name you've heard only once to a face you've seen only once is much harder. I have no doubt he uses other names in various places. Its why he's so difficult to track. Secrecy is our best weapon."

The boy's face showed everything, and Tadakatsu could sympathize with his confusion.

"Who are you guys keeping a secret from?"

Tadakatsu leaned back in his seat. "Ahh...now there is the heart of the matter, isn't it?" He mused, serving himself a little more tea as he stalled for a bit, searching for the proper words.

"Allow me to say-" He began. "That both our organizations pre-date the founding of the ninja villages as the world knows them. How long before the founding is anyone's guess, but we have all been fighting under the guise of others for far longer than any one man can claim to have lived."

"Why?"

"Well its quite simple really. Both sides have only one half of the whole. They have a key. We have the location where that key can be used."

"Is this being meta-whatsis?"

"Metaphorical?" The older man shrugged. "In a sense. Though not entirely. Please forgive me, but I cannot reveal more than I already have on the matter."

"What can you tell me!?"

A much easier question now that the boy mentioned it.

"In truth only that we've been looking out for you since you were born."

Naruto opened his mouth, but them seemed to think better of it before he snapped it shut, glaring at the man as though accusing him of not being able to answer the unspoken questions here as well.

He smiled a bit. "The Sandaime Hokage...was very influential with us, as was the Yondaime. At Sarutobi's request, we've kept as close a watch as we dared. You and I were never supposed to meet. Your use of that escape route activated old seals we'd left behind. It alerted several of us to be on the lookout for you. I was the first to arrive. Else wise you may have been found by another cell." He sipped at his tea. "In short, you and I never should have met unless under the most dire circumstances that required your escape or flight from Konohagakure."

"Ok I can get that." The boy nodded. "But what now? What were you supposed to do after you found me?"

"Protect you from whomever you were fleeing from. Train you and induct you into our ranks."

"Induct-wha?"

Tadakatsu nodded. "Yes you did hear me right. The plan was always for you to join us."

"But-but I don't even know anything about you people! I'm not some...secret, weird information salesman wanderer guy."

"You're a ninja." Tadakatsu answered simply. "You will be whatever you need to be."

Naruto blinked owlishly at the man. Thinking. In truth it wasn't as if he had anything else really planned but this seemed like too big a deal to just say yes to out of a lack of any other options.

At his silence Tadakatsu decided to placate the misgivings he could see forming there. "You do not have to decide immediately, even should you decline we will still train you. The organization known as Akatsuki is still after you and it would be foolish to protect you all these years, only to abandon you now when you need our aid most."

At that, Naruto's tension eased, believing the lie, things had already been decided, and one way or another Naruto would join them, otherwise...well...there's a reason the order had been kept a secret for so long.

Tadakatsu choose not to contemplate such a possibility. The future was always open. The boy would warm to the idea in time.

"Alright so when do we start?" The youth finally asked, breaking the tense silence.

"We already have." Tadakatsu shrugged. "Reading through Katsuye's library was not merely an expenditure of time. Knowledge is as powerful as any blade. The book you've already started on, is proof enough that you can glean much from pages and ink."

"Well...yeah but aren't we gonna do more?" He asked, scratching the back of his head.

"You will." The older man answered. "But not with me. In one month's time, one of the members of my cell will come here, and he will continue your training."

"Why do I have to go with him? Why can't you teach me?"

"I could." He admitted to the protest. "There are a great many things I could teach you, but in truth there are duties I have neglected. Things I need to get back to, and quickly. I am not sure which one of us would be a better teacher, but I do know which one of us is stronger. You will become very powerful under Cyrus' tutelage.

"So its the guy with the weird name?"

"Indeed."

Naruto's lips pursed, his face scrunching up in a strange expression.

Finally, he spoke, his voice hesitant and full of misgivings.

"Can't wait to meet him I guess..."

* * *

He made his way back to the place he'd taken as his own, the murder weapon nowhere to be seen, only scrolls, scrolls with instructions as he sat down atop a near rotten chair.

He held up the first one, and a man stepped out of the shadows, taking it in hand.

"You know what to do, I trust."

The man nodded. Nothing more nothing less before left.

He held out the second, and this time a boy emerged, dressed in rags, his hair a tangled mess. A gutter rat if there ever was one. "Take this." He instructed. To our _southern_ friend." The boy nodded.

"And this." Cyrus continued, pulling out a third scroll. "Is for her."

The boy looked startled. "You're not taking it to her yourself?" He questioned, his voice high pitched, not even a teenager yet.

"No time." I should venture to meet my new student before our unwanted friends do."

The boy nodded.

* * *

Well here we are. Sorry for the wait. But I'd been plagued by a major writers block for the first time in about a year. And it was bad. Sometimes I could barely sit down and write two sentences.

Either way its done now. Hope it was worth the wait and hopefully the next chapter will come easier.


	15. The Shards

When Naruto woke, it was to the sound of his door opening.

His eyes snapped open at the odd sound, through the entire time he'd been here no one had ever opened his door while he was sleeping. Everyone was asleep themselves except for one or two servants maybe or someone taking a quick kitchen run.

When he swiveled up to take on a sitting position he found Tadakatsu standing there, his face grim almost stern. "Come."

Naruto rubbed his eyes, half wanting to complain as he saw that the sun wasn't even up yet. It was still dark.

But the look on Tadakatsu's face... "What's wrong old man?"

It was almost two weeks too early for the older Nuke-nin to say these words but say them he did.

"Cyrus is here for you."

* * *

Cyrus reminded him of that old exam proctor. The one with all the scars.

Cyrus didn't have a roadmap across his face but there were at least two nasty ones he could see right off the bat.

The first trailed down from his forehead, across his missing eye to his cheek to fork off a bit, one that went sharply to his chin and another that continued down to his jawline. And the other scar was a thin one, just beneath the other eye starting at the bridge of the nose and curling up towards his temple.

With the man's scowl and that one green eye glinting like some flint knife in the dim light, Naruto's first impression of his would be mentor was...less than enthusiastic.

He stood in the houses living room, almost fidgeting beneath that stare. "So..." He began, somewhat awkwardly. "You're Cyrus then, huh?"

The sandy haired man said nothing, reaching down to grasp one of two small duffle-bags at his feet he reached forward and handed one to him. "You'll need these for the journey, there arent replacements. Break them, and do without."

Naruto quickly opened the bag, finding a thick coat and some heavy hiking boots and gear. "Where exactly are we going?"

Cyrus looked at Tadakatsu when he addressed the question. First lesson. Everything is on a strict need to know basis. Only you need to know."

"If something were to happen we would have no way to find you Cyrus." It was clear this conversation had already taken place, and Tadakatsu had not been pleased with his answer then either.

"Nothing will. And on the off chance, I've put measures in place. You'll know if I die. Anything more is more trouble than its worth."

"And if something were to happen to Kushina?"

"Unlikely as it is." The sandy haired man scoffed. "It would make no difference. His training will take time. Until it is finished, she has no reason to contact me and I no reason to return. If she dies we come back to find her corpse and name someone new if they haven't been chosen already."

He turned his gaze back to Naruto as the boy finished perusing through the items in the bag. "Come." He said simply, turning his back and marching out the door.

Naruto gaped, almost foolishly for a moment before he swiveled his head around to look at Tadakatsu.

The dark haired nin smiled, kindly features attempting to reassure. "Go. Cyrus may not be a kind man. But he is a good man. I will pass along all your well wishes to the girls and their father when they wake. Go."

Of all the ways Naruto expected to leave this house, in the middle of the night with nary a goodbye from anyone was not one of them. It made him sad...moreso than he thought it should have.

He smiled, strained and brittle as it was. "I'll see ya around old man."

"We will see eachother again." Tadakatsu assured; nodding.

And with that the blond gennin made his way out of the house to follow.

* * *

Kushina finds herself walking into a scene of bloody carnage, the dead are strewn about the whole tent like someone had been tossing a slew of confetti made of human guts.

Flies were already starting to gather, and the stink of human blood would have been overpowering if she hadn't long ago gotten used to such.

To the Dog, it must have been just like home.

The cloying smell of incense stung with the thick odor of blood mixing in it and she was only half surprised to see the strings of smoke emanating from an ash pile on her acquaintances hand which were black as charred wood from forearm to fingertip.

He seemed like an older man only due to his white beard and hair. His skin was ash grey, the only wrinkles on his face were deep frown lines.

She stopped walking, as close as she needed to be to carry a conversation.

"You weren't gonna gut these people for another few months. Thing's didn't go as planned I take it."

His head rose. Eyes opening to reveal pitch black around a golden iris.

She smirked.

After a moment, he languidly reached beside him, grabbing a severed head that had been resting comfortably within arms reach. "The one who spoke." He drawled, voice like rocks scraping against each other.

She brought up her foot as the head rolled, stopping it mid tumble like one would stop a ball. "Ahh, stupid little Doshi who thought he was so clever." She chuckled lips twisting into a sardonic smirk before looking up to him. "We'd been giving him false information for a few months. Got a few set ups planned within a few more weeks. Never mentioned you though. I suppose some actual information may have slipped the net."

"Then you should keep a tighter leash on your thralls." He rebuked, his lip curling into a faint sneer even as his voice never altered in pitch from the monotone. He glanced around, probably lamenting all those months of careful work now down the drain; it'd never be the fact that he actually fought. The man was a mountain of muscle. Nearly seven feet tall, with arms and legs like tree trunks. A punch from him could kill most grown men outright. When he was wielding those monstrous slabs of steel he passed for a sword and ax, that were rumored to have cut a horse in two, however; that's when the death toll really spiked. "What a blunder."

She shrugged. "These things happen." His lead had always been something of a long shot. She was obviously not as broken up or irate about its loss as she would be on something definitive.

Neither was he, truth be told. Just...annoyed, she'd say, rather than frustrated or angry.

She shifted her weight, crossing her arms. Sitting at the top of that tea house had made her soft. She was getting too used to that chair.

"So...what exactly did you call me here for hmm? Doshi's head would have made a spectacle bringing it into town...but I would have taken your word for it.

"Last I heard, your negotiator has a favor he wishes to ask."

"Ahh." She chuckled. "Seems everyone wants to get their hands on that boy these days."

Her shoulders came up in a shrug. "You're a bit late, truth be told. Cyrus beat you too it."

"Pity." He said, though with his tone, it could have been anything but just as easily.

Her smile became just a little wicked. "I happen to agree really. The sweet irony of you, the Dog of Iwa training Minato's kid would be somewhat delicious."

"Cyrus-"

"Just isn't the same." She chuckled. Sure, you're both stone heads, but I can hardly compare a man that made a name for himself during, literally, the last week of the war and the man who practically carved a bloody swathe through the leaf ranks from day one right up to the battle of the Red Earth."

"Make due with your muted amusement then." He said, swiveling his hand to release the still smoldering pile of ashes, the incense smoke finally dying away as he stood, lifting a massive sword, as tall as she was and probably as wide, its dual edges were serrated, the teeth glinting like fangs.

She rolled her eyes. "You're telling me the fact that he's the son of the forth, doesn't have anything to do with your interest."

"A fact, does not eclipse the need. Over the last decade we have suffered casualties, only a fraction of which we have adequately replaced."

"We've never needed many."

"Because we are the best. That boy could be the best."

She shrugged in a way that showed her agreement. "Could be. With just the fourth's genes and the Bijuu, even if his mother was a total lack wit he would be-

_'-the most awesome baby in existence!'_

She very nearly reeled. As it was she flinched, a sudden, violent headache ripping through her skull with the force of a migraine.

The dog didn't notice, his ashen skined face, making him look like some sort of living statue, turned to her as he finished adjusting his weapons onto his back. "What new task do you have for me then? The boy is beyond our reach, and this lot is dead."

"I can see that." She said, trying to keep her voice level as the pain threatened to split her skull. She pushed it aside, compartmentalizing it as best she could. No way she would ever allow herself to seem vulnerable to _him_ of all people. His loyalty to the cause was unquestionable. His loyalty to her however was not. And dogs could always smell blood when it spilled.

"I'll contact you with instructions in a few days. I'm sure I can find something for your particular talents with the things going on up north.

He nodded, marching to the tents exit, brushing past her. "Farewell." He said. "I do not hope you die."

And then he was gone.

Kushina waited until she was certain he was gone before she reached up, one hand clutching at her temple as her eyes screwed themselves shut, an indescribable agony boring its way clear across her head. Like someone was pushing a hand drill through her brain.

* * *

"Come here." Cyrus called brusquely, pulling Naruto's attention from the camp they were currently setting up.

Dropping the sticks he was carrying for the fire, the blond gennin marched over, despite numerous attempts to draw the man into conversation, these were effectively the first words Cyrus had said to him since they'd left Katsuye's house.

He stepped up beside the man, who was kneeling on one leg, the one eyed man threw him a glance before unrolling the scroll over the ground. It was blank.

A moment later a brush was being offered to him, Naruto took it, lips twisting in nervous displeasure. His calligraphy was never very good, and completely failing the first lesson was not exactly the best first impression he could think of. And that seemed particularly important with this guy, considering he'd barely said two words to him. Not even a customary "shut up"

"Do as I do." He said, his brush smoothly brushing a perfect circle.

Naruto tried to do the same but it was hardly perfect.

The boy tossed a nervous glance at Cyrus but the man seemed unperturbed. Brushing another quick line at the top and bottom, Naruto followed suit.

For almost a minute, the man continued to add to his symbol, Naruto following his example as best he could.

When they were done, Cyrus'seal was a collage of perfectly drawn patterns with nary a brush stroke out of place. Naruto's looked like a toddler's doodle by comparison.

"We'll practice this every day." Cyrus drawled. "I don't know the sealing arts, but this one is vital."

"What's it do?"

"Opens a direct, one way communication with our leader. Its unlikely, but if something should happen to me; you must get into contact with her."

"You guys are lead by a girl."

"One that could rip you in half without even lifting a finger" The cyclops answered drily before putting his hand on the seal, channeling his chakra and activating it.

Naruto saw the glowing matrix expand, two lines lengthening from its top and bottom, before going around Cyrus, one to his right, the other two his left, forming a perfect circle that he was half standing out of.

Then Cyrus spoke at empty air. "We'll be heading through Iron, soon. I've left most of the information for my contacts in drop point Jade. If you need them, find them there. You won't find me. Don't even bother. By my expectations, he will be ready in two to three years time. Do not expect us before then. Cyrus out."

"Who is she?"

"You haven't earned the right to learn her name yet." Cyrus answered as he pulled his hand away from the seal its light dissipating.

When Cyrus stood, he turned to Naruto and tossed him a strange looking piece of metal.

"Ahh." The blond yelped, fumbling to catch the surprisingly heavy metal.

"Your weapon."

Naruto looked at it.

He concluded almost immediately...

...it was ugly.

Like a morning star without spikes, save for one abnormally long one right at the top.

The grip was thin in Cyrus' hand, but large and awkward in his. Too thick.

He looked up at the man, who's flat expression reminded him of Gaara, or Neji. "This...uh..." He was fishing through his vocabulary for something a bit more polite than _'sucks'_

Luckily, Cyrus finished for him. "Seems useless."

Naruto tried not to nod too enthusiastically.

"The most dangerous things normally do." He said before Naruto watched as a distortion in the air slowly formed at the pommel side of the weapon Cyrus had in his own hand its shape slowly gaining substance and form to seem like a single edged sword.

"Bad ass!" The blond cried out, smiling widely now.

"You will learn my style. That of the shadow scorpion." He said. "You will learn to fight with fang." He gave a meaningful look to the sword.

"Claw"

With a snap, the hilt shot out in either direction, becoming a much longer stick, its once, awkward, bludgeoning tool now acting as a counter weight, the chakra blade now resembling a Guan-Dao before it snapped back closed, blade now gone once again.

"And most importantly, the deadly tail."

With a clink of chains, the abnormally long spike was released from its spot, revealing barbed links of metal, disappearing into the bulb like head of the closed weapon.

"Alright!" Naruto shouted, smiling wide at Cyrus' flat expression. "So when do I start learning awesome sword techniques?"

"That answer depends on you..." The man answered. "But not at least for another eight months."

Naruto's face immediately fell, his eyes going wide. "What!? Why?"

"Before the scorpion can become predator. He must first be prey. And learn to defend himself within such limitations." Cyrus drawled, a cruel glee adorning his remaining eye. "You must first learn the arts of deception, subterfuge and invisibility. At the same time, you must master the use of this weapon as it is right now." He brought up the length of steel in its default state. "Only when I am satisfied, will I begin to teach you the forms for Fang. Claw and Tail."

"But...but that will take forever!" Naruto despaired.

"You'd best advance all the quicker then."

* * *

Despite what many believed, Orochimaru did take some measure of administrative responsibility while running Oto.

Funding his experiments, had to come from somewhere after all.

So did the organization he was part of. It had sources of income throughout the five villages. He just so happened to be one of them. If the money, or intelligence stopped flowing from him, soon enough Kushina would send one of her dogs to ask why.

And she would be irate if she found the answer unsatisfying.

So yes, he was not exempt from paper work.

Normally however his busy schedule didn't allow him to set asside time for it, so it wasn't until the proverbial dam was ready to burst at the seams, with nearly a months work, backed up that he found the time to sit and do it.

So when he did get to it, he loathed being interrupted.

Which is why, of course, he was being interrupted.

The rune glowed insistently on the ground. Pulsing and humming, an angry red light emanating from it.

He sighed, damn near growling to himself as he sent the pulse of chakra to activate the seal. Hoping it was an actual emergency and not something Kisame, or worse, that fool Jiraiya were trying to wrap their head around.

"What?" He snapped, looking down at the document in his hands, trying to find his place again. "I'm occupied."

When no answer was forthcoming. He figured it would be one of three people. Two of those he could handle. The third would prove irritating.

He looked up.

Of course it had to be the irritating one.

"Impressive." He groused, nearly hissing through his teeth. "The fool lasted twenty minutes longer than expected before telling you."

He was certain that if looks could kill, Tsunade's glare would leave him little more than a smoking pile of cinders.

He got up and walked around his desk to stare at the Chakra projected image face to face. "Hello Hime."

She glared. "You have exactly twenty seconds. To tell me what the hell is going on before I get my top sealing masters to track this location. Then I'll personally lead every B rank and A rank ninja I have on hand to ram my fist down your throat and rip out your spine."

"Pleasant as ever." He struggled not to roll his eyes. "What's going on is that Jiraiya, handed you top secret information. Not exactly an ideal situation...but...predictable. The world could burn and he wouldn't tell a soul. Save you. He always had a soft spot for you Hime."

"Ten seconds." She hissed.

This time, he did roll his eyes. "Fine then. You want the whole story?" He reached into a back pocket pulling out an old, nearly faded metal plate, the leaf insignia, etched onto its center, pristine. "I never betrayed the village. But deception was necessary."

"You expect me to believe that load of shit?"

"I'll need more than the remaining three seconds to make you." He said. "Your best seal masters would take at least twenty good minutes to trace the seals origin point. Another day for you to arrive. I can be gone with my entire force in three hours. Either listen or waste both our valuable times. Then we can use the fool to mediate like some childish silent treatment. Your choice."

He couldn't help but smile at the sheer _rage_ he saw there. Which only served to piss her off even more.

By the gods it had been a _long _time since he'd goaded her.

He turned and started walking back towards his desk, pulling his chair out and around to take a seat.

Staring up at her holographic figure, he gestured vaguely behind her. "You might want to do the same Hime. This is going to be a rather long chat." He smirked. Knowing that it would just piss her off even further.

"We have so much to catch up on you and I."

* * *

She stumbled into the tea house, pale as a ghost, her red hair making her skin seem sallow and worn by contrast.

She grabbed one of the girls by the elbow as she moved to walk past, most of them tried to avoid her if they could.

This one was unfortunate tonight then.

She looked up startled, as Kushina's eyes found hers, freezing in a moment of terror at the sheer...chaos found there.

"Your strongest wine. Deliver it." She all but shoved her out of the way as she made her way to her private room up above.

She fell onto her seat, nearly collapsing there, her limbs feeling heavy as lead, her skull still pounding with...everything.

The wine came shortly, Bird country export. Expensive, strong.

She forewent the glass, took the bottle and drank it straight.

She chugged it down, not stopping until her head swam and vision blurred, the alcohol rushing through her body and into her blood she felt the room spin even while sitting.

Finally, her lungs demanded air as she was forced to pull the drink away. The bottle was three fourths empty.

Her fingers lost their grip, the glass clattering to the floor with an all too loud thud as she fell back, red wine spreading across the floor like blood.

She wasn't sure how long she sat there, lost in her own thoughts, a swirling malestrome of emotion running its way through her.

When she finally took notice of the small crystal shard that ad itsactivation rune active, it was already night.

She recognized the shard instantly.

_Cyrus._

Her mind caught up with that thought, and in a second her hand was around the shard, activating the message. She saw Cyrus within the shard, his outline fitting in the palm of her hand.

"_We'll be heading through Iron, soon. I've left most of the information for my contacts in drop point Jade. If you need them, find them there. You won't find me. Don't even bother. By my expectations, he will be ready in two to three years time."_

Two or three years...that long? It seemed like a long time. A part of her wanted to demand that Cyrus return. To send every available cell she had to hunting the man down until they bloody well found the man who could only be found when he chose.

"_Do not expect us before then. Cyrus out."_

"_Who is she?"_

The voice made her heart stop. Making the organ quiver in her chest as her breath hitched.

He wasn't even in her view, barely a faded outline at the very edge of the seal matrix.

"_You haven't earned the right to learn her name yet."_

She clenched the crystal in her hand. So hard she could feel her skin break, blood spilling free and dripping down to join the wine.

He asks who she was.

And Cyrus answers that he doesn't deserve to know.

He does...and the sad part is he should.

Something black, and evil, twists her heart, something wholly..._malicious_, wells up in her body.

It spreads to every nerve, every muscle.

An unknowable..._hatred._

Nearly two decades of her life...stolen. Her memories, and what she should have shared with...

She would never get those back. She may not even get _him_ back, if she were brutally honest with herself. Doesn't know what she would do if she could. Not sure if she could ever be a mother any more with what she knows...what she does.

But where recompense failed. She would settle on _retribution_.

* * *

Well here ya go. Been very busy lately, can't promise a quick update.

And also a good portion of my notes regarding this story have been lost, so as of right now I am officially _winging it_although there will be a lot of things carried over from the original void, a lot more will be changed.

Anyway hope you all enjoyed it and are looking forward to the events with Cyrus, and Kushina. We'll get to see what Jiraiya's up to in the next chapter too.


	16. The layers unwound

The rain was freezing.

Sleets of ice water showered him, making him shiver in miserable cold, the hissing drum of a million droplets keeping him, for all intents and purposes, deaf and blind.

He pressed his back further into the shadowed alcove he was currently using to catch his breath.

Just a little longer, that's all he needed.

He squinted, straining his already better than average senses to try and catch anything...any kind of movement, sound or even smell.

But there was nothing, only the hiss and cold of the rain.

At least until the flash of lightning came from above.

It was less than a second, less than an instant for his body to react to the sight his mind barely recognized, rolling away, and tumbling down the hillside as that foot came crashing down over the spot his head had just been resting against.

He shot to his feet, taking off in a dead sprint into the dead of night, a dozen more clones forming at his command, two attacked, the rest took off

_'Just a little longer.'_

There were no trees in this place, no thickets, nothing but rock and grass. Darkness and the Rain were as much his enemies as they were his allies.

The earth infront of him exploded, dirt pelting his face as he reeled, skidding to a halt,

Not fast enough to avoid the strike, the kunai's edge cut his brow wide open, blood falling over his eyes like a curtain of red, stinging and blinding; the Jinchuuriki screamed.

"Come on then!" Cyrus shouted. "Will you cry when your enemy cuts you or will you stand up and fight!"

The blond threw a kunai, his last one, lodging it dead center of Cyrus' forehead. He didn't hesitate...not like the last few times.

The man fell, for all intents and purposes, dead, another illusion. They always remained.

Desensitization, he called it.

Naruto growled, hissing with pain as the blood stung his eyes like salt over an open wound. He tried to wipe it away, uselessly, more blood poured down his face, aided by the rain. He'd have to wait for the wound to seal up, thirty seconds or so.

He moved to take off again before the lightning flashed again.

He was surrounded.

A dozen, perfect replicas, masked in wolf helms.

"Thirty seconds." The blond heard his teacher say, though he couldn't really tell from what direction the voice came from. "Closer. But you fail again."

"You aint caught me yet you one eyed bastard!" Naruto shouted, a clone emerging next to him to form a single, bright, spinning Rasengan.

He saw the wolf helmed clones, draw their weapons ready to bring him down like they'd done in a dozen other occasions.

Then he brought the spinning ball of Chakra down to the ground at his feet.

A cloud of dirt and grit joined the blackness of the night and the sheets or rain, When it cleared, Naruto was nowhere to be seen.

Cyrus eyed the spot, his clones immediately spreading out, his senses expanding, straining, searching; and found...nothing.

'Too far' He determined. Naruto was not that fast. With a mental command the blond ninja made all his clones double back, searching once more, carefully over the area they'd just passed.

His mental clock told him only ten seconds remained for him to find the boy.

He filtered through possibilities, dismissing each one as they emerged.

Then, finally, he realized what happened.

His eye snapped open, glaring at the center of the crater.

The alarm rang. A flare rising up from atop the mountain, bright white, that vanished in a second, no different than a lightning bolt to any one that would bother looking.

A pebble burst into smoke at the center of the crater, revealing a grinning Jinchuuriki.

He wondered if he should consider it a failure. Wondered if the second or two before the timer had gone off, that he'd deduced where he was enough margin for error.

"You pass." He said after a moment. _'Barely.'_

* * *

Jiraiya knew that there weren't a great many places with well and true 'catacombs' Taki was one of the few, the wetlands and constant rain made it...highly inconvenient to attempt to bury the dead, or even burn them.

It was quite a chore to dig six feet of mud, even worse when the dead just bubbled back up after a few days with the earth being more liquid than dirt. Or even keep a fire long enough to burn a person quickly and properly. Last thing you wanted was a limb staying burnt but whole. Very disturbing for the families. They liked ashes, nothing less and definitely nothing more.

So here he was, making his way through the hallowed halls of Taki's underworld of dead.

As far as catacombs actually went, this one was not exactly bad, shored up at the walls with mortar and stone, whole families sealed behind doors, like a series of mausoleums.

It was stuffy though, but it served its purpose well enough getting him through the village undetected. The various entrances were made incase of cave-ins, but the Catacombs were barely guarded, and his skills let him slip by whenever he did encounter a patrol. Making this a magnificent means of traversing through the village without anyone finding out he'd ever been in there.

He pulled out his map of this place, hoping he was on the right track before deciding to test out his luck, opening one of the doors that led to a nondescript mausoleum.

Looking to the boxes lining the wall, the coffins were lined with cobwebs and seven layers of dust.

All but one.

He marched forward, knocking thrice on said coffin before the thing slid open like some door's port hole.

An older man sat behind it, wrinkles as deep as knife wounds splayed along his cheeks.

"Toad sage?" He groused. "I'd normally say I figure you ta be taller, but you're plenty tall as it is. Come on then quick."

The white haired Sannin reached up. Pulling himself to swivel his feet first through the opening.

The wooden panel slid back into place behind him, the older man grumbled something before gesturing him along. "Come on now. Need ta hurry. Information grows bad just like food if left too long."

They walked up the steps, opening up to the larder of a tavern, the cooks averted their eyes and went about their business as they moved through the kitchen.

They didn't see anything, weren't here, they didn't even wake up this morning.

The old man threw him a drab cloak, a whicker hat to go along with it. It was not uncommon attire in Taki, it rained here nearly as much as Ame.

Luckily it was raining today too.

* * *

It was the middle of the day when Shizune saw her mentor march right out of her office. "Tsunade-sa-"

"I'm going out." The blond woman interrupted, in a tone Shizune knew better than to argue with. This wasn't the drink talking, or some little bout of rebellion. Something big had happened. "Don't follow."

Shizune nodded and continued her work; her mentor marching through the building to wherever her destination may have been.

* * *

"There." The old man muttered under his breath, voice nearly drowned in the hiss of the rain. He did not move his head, nor did he acknowledge the place in any way. "Commin's and goins' from quite a few strangers these last few days."

"That doesn't prove much."

"Its your snake that's gotten it in his head that the merchant's in cahoots with...whoever it is you're fight'n against. Ask him where he got his suspicions. I just keep my head down, my ears open and watch who I'm told."

"Right." The Sannin said "Any tips on getting in."

"That's your bleedin' job boy. Mines done. Now stop followin me. If ya get caught I don't wan't no one pegging the two of us as one an' the same."

Without another word the old man turned to another road and Jiraiya kept walking without missing a beat. It wasn't the first time he'd followed up on an informant, the behaviour though uncommon was not exactly unknown.

He spared one over the shoulder look at the building. The old man had been right. Information spoiled if left too long. He cut his way through an alley, forming his handseals.

A multitude of small, thumb sized tree toads were brought in a puff of smoke, Jiraiya's stride not breaking for a moment.

He found the nearest tavern, setting himself down and ordering a drink.

* * *

There were places in Konoha where only the barest handful of people could tread. Places where only the ears of a few ever heard rumors about and the eyes of less ever even had a chance to glimpse at.

If they ever did, the were killed.

Tsunade made her way to one such place. Deep within the bowels of the village, she knew of only one other person outside of the detail of guards that knew of this place. Danzo, and he only knew because he had helped Sarutobi build it, the one thing that the two men had ever agreed on.

The tunnel was dark, it smelt of stale air and moss, grime covered the floor in a thick layer of filth.

She counted her steps, unable to see. At the seven hundreth and ninety sixth, she stopped, fluctuating her chakra through her coils. "Kai"

Two torches and a door flickered to life infront of her. An illusion deceptively simple but oh so complex, not only turning it invisible but removing the place alltogether should it not be broken. The victim would pass straight through without ever realizing it and would be killed if he lingered much longer.

There was a guard at the door, one man, Wizened, much older than her, as old as Saru, maybe more. The same old man that had come into her home on the third day of her becoming Hokage. The one that had explained his role and purpose. The one that had told her of the place that guarded all of Konoha's most damning, black secrets.

"Lady Tsunade." He greeted, bowing deeply at the waist.

"No." She answered and corrected. "The will of Fire." Speaking the words to avoid near certain death from the myriad of traps and other guards of the highest ANBU ranks that were ready to come alive at a moments notice.

"The Archives are yours to enjoy." The old man breathed out.

Tsunade's lips thinned. "I require to remain vigilant. Neither love, nor trust, nor blood is demanded. Only vigilance."

The old man opened his eyes, his pleasant smile melting away

He tapped his cane on the ground once, twice and from the very air around her, ANBU emerged, four, and Tsunade knew there were perhaps a handful more in waiting thst she could not detect. That there was little chance for her to leave this place alive if she did not pass their test.

As one, the four Anbu's hands rose to form a distinct handseal, a runic symbol glowed at her feet, its pale green light washing over her, examining her. Testing for any kind of deception as to who she may have been. If even the slightest fact was suspect, she would be taken to be interrogated at best, killed outright at worst.

These were the measures put in place to protect Konoha from the horrors its existance had created in the dark places of the world. One Kage's life was expendable by contrast.

Even Sarutobi's. He'd designed the protocols after all.

And he'd killed himself for the sake of whatever fool mission he was on.

Orochimaru had told her of these words. Told her that here she would find her proof. His words were not trustworthy. But this place was. No one. No god above nor devil below could ever breach this place without someone becoming aware.

He could _never _have _planted_ information here.

This place never existed and never would exist

She held the gaze of the old man that stood infront of her and waited for the Anbu to finish their little test.

* * *

"They have the boy."

The words reached Jiraiya as he laughed in the tavern, loudly enjoying himself as he joked and laughed at the jokes of other drunks.

His mind slipped away, his consciousness stretching to the mind of the Summon that called him, the sight of a window, dripping with clear water on its surface distorting the immage of two men, one standing, the other sitting; replacing the drunks around him, the cold of rain chilling him to the bone despite the warmth of the tavern as the words of the two men inside drowning out the uproarious laughs.

"They've always had the boy." The other answers.

"No. But now they're training him."

"Jiraiya?"

"We were never sure if he was even involved."

"One student left the village, the other killed the grandmaster. Who else could it be."

"We never had confirmation either way."

"I see...still...we have more pressing matters to attend to than a boy who will not yet be a threat for some time yet. The situation North is our more pressing concern for now"

"Iwa and Kumo."

The sitting man nodded. "Yes." He pulled out five scrolls, each no thicker than a small baby's arm. "Youknow he procedure. As of now, this is going to Tezai."

The standing man stiffened. "Tezai? He...he's still imprisoned."

"That he is. But our assets are dwindling too fast. We've invested too much to see this operation fail. The artisan has asked us to make arrangements to get him out and back into the fold."

"He was imprisoned for a reason..."

"I'm aware. As is the Artisan."

"I see. It shall be done then."

The summons world bled away, and the Tavern was back with a drunken lout shouting at him, another decrying that he couldn't hold his drink. Jiraiya downed the rest of his in one gulp as an answer, much to their amusement and the night continued on.

_'Tenzai'_

* * *

When the door opened, cold smacked her across the face. A bone deep chill as a room, decades sealed with little more than cold air was finally opened once again.

She stepped in, lights flickering on revealing row uppon row of files, scrolls and cabinets.

Only one lonely page decorated the smooth table in the center.

She walked over, reaching down and lifting it.

_If you are standing here. I am no doubt dead. I leave this message to whomsoever has become Hokage and my student and murderer has deemed worthy. _

_My Name is Sarutobi Hiruzen. And these archives will tell you all you need to know; you who have been dragged into this...our war of shadows amongst shadows._

_May none find you wanting._

She crushed the paper, crinkling it into a ball as her lips formed into a frown, eyes slowly passing over the entire room.

For a brief moment, she wished she could set it all aflame.

Instead, she reached for the first scroll.

* * *

"There are twenty eight forms." Cyrus drawled as they stood out in the freezing rain, little more than shirts and thin pants to protect them from the freezing cold, the weapon in his hand now in its sword form, Naruto held a stick.

"You will learn each one by memory. You will learn to perform them all flawlessly on command."

Feeling like an academy student again Naruto slowly raised his hand.

"Yes?"

"You said twenty eight? Is that like for the whole thing or-"

"Twenty eight forms involving only the Fang. Seventeen more as the Claw, and nine with the lashing tail. Fifty four forms in total. That's not counting the combination forms. Or the Taijutsu you will learn along side this."

Naruto blanched. "Fifty four? But the academy Taijutsu style only had eight!"

"None of which you learned well." The Iwa nin scathingly shot back. "These you will master to perfection! Only then will your training extend to nature manipulation and the illusions that will complement the style."

Naruto looked like he was getting ready to say more, but Cyrus' piercing green eye shut him up all too quickly.

Seeing as how his student was remaining mercifully quiet, he continued. This is not something you will learn in a single day. This is something I will drill into your skull every day for the next few years. This requires constant repetition. Constant use. It will not be sporadic like your stealth and evasion training. It will be followed every day for sixteen hours. Six you will use to sleep and two you shall use to eat. Make no mistake. This is your life from this day onward Uzumaki Naruto." He took a stance. "Now. Follow my movements. We start immediately."

* * *

Well here it is. There will only be one or two more filler chapters between the three year year training. Then we'll more or less jump back into the swing of the first version with events once more following the trend and tenure of the previous version of "the void"

Hope you all enjoyed it, read and review.


	17. The Need

Orochimaru looked to his right, lone eyebrow raised high. "Did you just say Tenzai?"

"Yeah" Jiraiya answered leaning against a tree. The toad had chosen the meeting location once more and his pale counterpart had little doubt the place was wired with about half a dozen traps to either attack or help him escape if things went south. He'd already seen four of them. "You know him."

"It was during Sensei's time more than mine." he admits, ignoring Jiraiya's twitch at the mention of Sarutobi. "But I do. Powerful Shinobi by all accounts, utterly insane."

"Sounds like someone I know." He jabs with the subtlety of a brick. "Maybe he'll say he was really your ally all along in the near future."

"Do you have anything else to report, or am I to be subject to your so called 'wit'?"

The toad snorts. "Yeah, one other thing. That trouble brewing up north with Iwa and Kumo, they've got their hands in the jar. That's the main reason they're gonna release Tenzai. Speaking of which, other than being 'utterly insane' how dangerous could he be. If he was before your time the man must be what? Sixty? Seventy?"

"He's actually our age as far as I know." The snake admitted. "He was a teenager when his name started circulating, imprisoned around his late twenties, held there for the last two to three decades."

Jiraiya doesn't say anything, merely straightens, turns and leaves. Orochimaru lets him.

They are not friends. They are barely even allies brought together once again after years by mere circumstance. Even if he never truly betrayed them, even if he never actively pursued their deaths they are far too different now, the eddies and currents of life have drawn them too far apart

He dragged the man in to cast a wide net to catch the boy. And he, in turn, dragged Tsunade in as well.

Now they were involved, but they weren't his responsibility anymore. Kushina would soon have to assign them to a cell, give them tasks to complete.

He wasn't sure how well either of them would take that, but regardless, it was not his problem anymore.

Neither of them were anymore.

* * *

Kakashi was early.

That didn't make her feel any better.

She stepped closer, and the small consolation that he was reading his book was soon washed away when she realized it was only open, he wasn't actually reading through it; his eyes were on her.

When she was finally within speaking distance he abandoned the pretense and put it away.

"Sakura."

"Hey Sensei." She forced out through the apple lodged in her throat.

He was quiet for a moment before he let out a heavy sigh. "There's no real way to say it other than just...coming out and saying it I guess. Team Seven is officially disbanded."

She knew it was going to happen, knew it was what he was going to say, but it still felt like a punch to the gut hearing it.

"You have two options Sakura. If you want to continue your ninja career."

She swallowed, forcing the lead weight in her stomach to settle before she met Kakashi's eyes.

"You can either go into the reserves list. You'll be cycled there until they find a team with a vacancy or a sensei that wants to make a new team of already graduated gennin...that's probably the easier option."

He stopped talking, and after almost twenty or thirty seconds she actually needed to ask him to continue.

"What's the other option sensei?"

Kakashi seemed to work his jaw for a bit, fishing for the words before he finally came up with them.

"You replace me."

She blinked, staring stupidly up at him as her mouth opened and closed.

"As it stands." He continued. "I am the last person in Konoha that has a Sharingan. There are only two others out there with the same eyes, both of which have been decared missing ninja. Their loyalty to the village can never be counted on again. Hunter Nin will try to eliminate both of them-" At that Sakura's eyes grew wide with alarm; Kakashi kept on talking to speak over her protests. "-before they can go breeding and these eyes become a free commodity. Problem is, I'm over thirty. That's already knocking on retired or dead in ninja years for most."

Sakura realized where this was going, Kakashi had all but laid down a map for her.

He nodded. "That means they want me to train someone to, in essence _become _me. My fighting style, my abilities, techniques. They want a damn near perfect replica so that they can take this eye, and stick it into someone else. Without any undue damage and with proper chakra treatments this eye could potentially go on functioning for another century, in service to the village. Its rarity would make it all the more dangerous, since after a decade or so people would have forgotten how to fight against Sharingan wielders."

"Why do they want me?" She mannaged to breathe out.

"Hmm?"

"Why do the administrators want me to replace you?"

Kakashi released another heavy sigh. "Would you prefer a lie or the truth?"

She glared at him for all she was worth. He would have smiled if he could have smiled at what he was about to say.

"Because quite frankly...you're expendable."

He watched the hurt flash across her face, watched the despair grow behind those eyes. "You're the first ninja in your family for the last three generations. So you have no genetic disposition to be anything remarkable. You are not an outlier. You are, and this is largely my fault, a gennin who's strength is far below average. If you break under, or even die in this training, which...might very well happen should you choose to take it, the village looses nothing. The administrators see this. You provide them with everything to gain and extremely little to actually loose."

The silence that fell over them was a tense awkward thing. Kakashi allowing her a moment to absorb what was said, with Sakura taking it gladly.

"Sakura."

She brought her eyes to his again.

He sighed through his nose, kneeling down to be at eye level. "This is your choice. If you choose to go into the reserves I'll call in a few favors and make sure you're set up with a good sensei. One that's better than me even. It might take some getting used to, being on a new team but it'll be safer. That is the honest truth."

"It sounds like you don't want to keep training me." She sniffed. "Sasuke left...Naruto too...the administrators see me as expendable and you see me as useless." She hissed, an anger slowly burning through her chest.

"I don't see you as useless." He replied. "But I do see you as weak, and again...that's my fault. I didn't train you better. The training you'll need to go through to properly wield this Sharingan, to replace me...it will be _very_ dangerous. You'll be subjected to genjutsu regularly, you'll push your body past the limitations of your _mind_ since you will be learning skills that _require_ the Sharingan to function, just so when its transplanted your neural pathways and Chakra coils would have already developed. I am going to have to push you until you can't take any more and then I'll have to _push_ even harder. I don't want to see you in a psych ward by the time you hit twenty. I don't want to see you a vegetable or crippled. I am being as honest as I can with you when I say that if you take this road I cannot promise you any form of safety. I _failed_ Sasuke. I _failed _Naruto. I _failed _them...I don't want to fail you too."

He stood. "You shouldn't decide immediately. Go home...think about it for as long as you need...when you're ready find me. I'll be proud of whatever decision you make, regardless."

* * *

_'What a lovely singing voice.' _

These were Kushina's thoughts as she listened to the live performance going on downstairs from her perch in the tea house.

She let her head lull to the side, listening, one leg cropped up over the other.

The door opened.

The snake stepped in.

"Kushi-."

She held up a finger, he went silent, allowing her to listen to the song, unobstructed.

When the woman's final, high note echoed up to her Kushina felt her smile grow a little bit.

She opened her eyes looking at Orochimaru, who scowled at her.

"I have a report." He finally said.

Her smile spread just a little more, and she could tell his hackles were starting to rise with some suspicion.

"Don't you always?" She said and gestured him to sit. "Take a load off, have a drink with me."

He eyed the bottle already on the table, two clean glasses beside it. That didn't mean she couldn't have chugged it right out of the bottle though. "Are you drunk?"

Now her teeth were showing in that smile. "No. Just celebrating."

"Celebrating what?"

She pursed her lips, seeming to think it over before deciding on an appropriate word. "Serendipity."

She didn't wait for him to speak. She leaned forward, flipping the glasses right side up and poured them both a generous amount. "One drink." She said. "Then you can tell me all about it."

He was eying her now, all suspicion and raised eyebrows.

He picked up the glass.

They drank.

She watched his eyes open, pulling the wine away from his pale lips.

She chuckled, letting some of the blood red liquid trail down the side of her lips.

She pulled the empty cup away, smiling up at him all innocence and charm.

He eyed the cup. "Snake blood? Theatricality doesn't suit you."

The smile she wore seemed to have been branded onto her face for all it moved. "Chakra poisoning." She said, wiping her lips as she set the cup down. "Very clever ruse you and the old bat came up with. She laced her fingers together over her lap.

He could think of only one thing that would make her say those words to him. His lip curled in distaste.

"Were you laughing all along Oroci-kun? You and that insipid old bat?

"What we did to you." He answered, without preamble or hesitation. "We did because it was necessary. We needed "The scarlet devil." We did not need-"

"To hell with what you needed." She interrupted, that smile still there. "He needed me. More than stealing from me. You stole me from him."

The snake sannin made no excuse. No petitions or apologies. He stared her dead in the eye; spoke to her honestly. "We did what we had to do Kushina."

She would at least return the courtesy. "You'll report whatever you wish to report through either Itachi or Kisame. I will not speak, or ever be spoken to by you again. You're still important. Count that as your saving grace. Make no mistake though; important or not...the next time I see you I am going to kill you.

She was not joking. It was no boast or overconfident threat.

He set the glass down, wiping his mouth with a handkerchief she'd known ahead of time to leave at the table.

Then he turned and marched out of the room.

She'd have to get in line for that privilege.

* * *

This is a _very _short chapter by my standards, and it was originally going to be much longer. Truthfully though, half way through writing I felt as though a lot of it would just be _moot_ considering the impending timeskip. I'd just have to regurgitate a lot of the information about what happened anyway in the following chapter after we jumped forward three or so years.

There was some information that had to be expressed here, particularly the events surrounding Sakura. But outside of that little else really stood out as something that couldn't; in fact, be covered later in the required information dumps.

So appologies for the shortness of it but hopefully in the next chapter we can find ourselves a bit more "on track" since we'll be covering the original "Void's" ground. With some proper deviation's of course.

For what its worth sorry again. Leave your thoughts so I may read them.


	18. The Hunter-Nin

"Again."

Cyrus' voice was like the crack of a whip. Naruto's body moved in nearly robotic motions. His form perfect to the layman eye, merely adequate to Cyrus.

"Venom's fang to sky."

He moved again, this time into a completely different series of movements.

"Strike from Shadow, transfer to Claws Unending stance."

His body went low the chakra blade cutting at an invisible enemy's feet as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, advancing like some freakish insect before he stood to his full height, weapon extending to resemble a glaive rather than a sword.

"Again!" Cyrus all but growled. "That transition was sloppy."

Without complaint, he did it once more.

* * *

The fire crackled in the space between them, the chill of night barely kept at bay by the merrily dancing flames.

"Tomorrow you'll practice the distortion illusions again."

"I thought we were gonna practice Alteration types." Naruto asked, curious.

"The more confused you keep your muscles, and your mind, the greater the effect of the training. You can't simply fall into a pattern. You've been keeping up with your Sharingan countermeasures right?"

The blond grinned. "Yup!"

"You'd better. I can't test that... There are three people left that can use that eye. You'll be fighting them all at some point or another most likely so you'd better be prepared. I didn't invest this much time for you to die to a worthless doujutsu."

"Speaking of. Shouldn't I be practicing something other than illusion? I mean the Taijutsu will help but the Sharingan can take away-"

He paused a split second after Cyrus' attention was drawn away.

"How many?" He whispered.

"Trying to get a precise count. Six I'd guess." The cyclops mumbled, bringing some meat to his mouth, as though un-bothered.

"That many?"

Cyrus very nearly smirked. "Let me show you an old trade secret."

The older man straightened. This time he spoke very loudly. "Come out all of you. Your attempts at hiding irritate my ears."

And just like that, after a moment of tense silence five men emerged from the surrounding treeline.

With the five of them revealed, Naruto could now more easily focus on the two that had stayed behind.

Seven then.

"The last two as well." Cyrus drawled.

And the last two came.

"Can this be true?" One of the men, masked like an Oni spoke. "Anbu 604...The Ghost of Iwa? Hiding up on a mountain like a hermit."

Cyrus wiped his mouth, standing up, he gestured for Naruto to remain seated. "Iwa Hunter-nin." He said. "How'd you find me."

"Even more unbelievable than your little choice of abode really." The Oni masked nin answered. "Came out hunting for someone else. And whada'ya know if we don't stumble on the biggest bounty since the S-Class Deidara."

"Followed protocols then...sent one of your own to report in case none of you come back they can send an elite tracker team. And body disposal unit." Cyrus said before looking to Naruto. "We'll have to find a new locale after this."

"Confident aren't we?"

Naruto watched the exchange, waiting and listening. He felt something brush against the defenses of his mind, he took a moment to identify it as Cyrus before allowing his sensei access.

_'When I strike. You run.'_

_'Where should I go?'_

_'Anywhere. Can't know just in case. If I don't find you in thirty days use the seal, contact Kushina.'_

And the illusion fell away.

Naruto almost argued, not willing to just...abandon Cyrus like this. But he knew his teacher would neither appreciate his help, nor was he entirely sure his help would infact: help. It was a whole different dynamic needing to defend someone as opposed to simply taking care of themselves.

And Hunter Ninja were the elite- of the elite of any village. These were the men trained above everyone else to bring down the most dangerous and deadly of the villages enemies. The ones they'd forged themselves.

He wasn't sure how he would stack against them. And if he was that much weaker and Cyrus needed to defend him then they'd both go down.

So if Cyrus wanted him to run, he'd run.

The wind blew through the clearing and Cyrus swayed with the wind like a hay figurine. His feet remained firmly planted on the ground as his body rocked side to side.

The clink of a chain alerted Naruto that Cyrus was going to use a striking tail form. The Ninja circled around him, most likely already under the sway of a Genjutsu.

"Bring him down!"

At once the seven ninja struck, jutsu and weapons coming to bear.

Cyrus kept swaying.

And each attack passed him right by.

Naruto didn't see anything more than that; turning he grabbed his discarded ninja pouch before rushing away from the scene.

_**'Leave the boy! Focus your attacks!'**_ He heard the Hunter nin roar one last time.

* * *

Kushina sighed rubbing her forehead tiredly. "Sometimes I do hate the fact that the snake brought you into the fold."

Jiraiya smirked where he sat. "Why? Because I'm currently the spymaster with the most ammount of contacts south of Konoha."

"That and you never bring good news." She groused, curling her lip as she tossed the file onto the table, leaning back on her seat.

"Nothing I can do about that."

She seemed to think for a moment before she finally spoke.

"Even though the end of Kiri's civil war is a wild card there's no reason as of yet to believe the Artisan is backing the winning side or the loosing side. So this piece of news is gonna have to be shelved for now. We need to focus on Iwa and Kumo."

Jiraiya nodded. "Yeah. Even the civilian population is talking about it now.

"Open war could break out any day now."

"As opposed to the quiet one they already have going."

She nodded. "The Iwa Daimio is sick with fever, poison most like. The Kumo Daimio is a babbling lunatic. The Iwa lords call for war and the Kumo lords usurp the Daimio's authority over the hidden village. Its a hive of snakes snapping at each other up there. "What exactly will Tsunade be doing about it?"

The Fire Daimio has asked her to try and negotiate peace."

"Wants to protect his finances I bet."

Jiraiya nodded. Much of the Aburame clan's silk trade relies on the northern powers and the villages between them. Open war, where the trade routes would be closed and the land between both villages would be a no mans land would hurt Konoha's economy. Especially now in the winter where less contracts came in and Konoha needed to rely even more heavilly on said silk since the crops were out of season for harvest.

"She's trying to get messages to both sides to see if they can come to some sort of agreement. At the very least she hopes she can stall the conflict long enough for the seasons to change, that way the Fire Daimio is happy that he's got a fallback plan from the silk trade for a good few months."

"This one looks like it could be long and bloody. Now or later the fire nation and its trade partners will feel the hurt."

"He is the Daimio though." Jiraiya shrugged.

"And what he says goes." She nodded before dismissing him. "Leave."

"You really need to work on your people skills.

"Don't care enough to." She answered with a smirk

* * *

Naruto muttered and cursed, stumbling through the underbrush. The sound of fighting had long since fallen out of earshot. And the sun that had been setting when he left had all but vanished and only the faintest hint of purple could be seen on the western horizon.

The teenager ran through what he remembered of his survival training, he needed to find shelter soon enough or he needed to make one. But before that he wanted to cover at least a little more distance.

So he keeps going.

Its not long before light, any light, can be seen for a great distance.

That's how he finds them.

Monks.

Its a procession of monks, walking through the forest, chanting their words, incense and bell chimes. Its only as he sees them walking through the forest past the first spirit marker that he realizes he's watching a funeral procession.

He steps out into view.

The procession doesn't stop, the monks keep walking. He half wonders if they're going to ignore him outright when one of the men, towards the end of the line, never breaking from his chant, reaches over and offers him an insence candle.

Naruto knows he needs a place to stay, knows that these people must have some kind of home around here somewhere. He hopes that they'll offer him a place at least for the night.

Is it wrong to take advantage of the ritual for his own ends?

Yes.

But Cyrus always said _'Morality __has its own place. Our world is not it__.'_

He remains quiet, as he follows the procession.

* * *

Naruto woke up the next morning, light streaming in through the window of the spare room he'd been given. None of the monks had spoken a word, the one who showed him to his room had merely walked up to him, bowed and gestured for him to follow. He assumed their silence had something to do with the funeral so he hadn't really pressed it.

Five minutes after waking up though with nine of the monks bothering to give him the time of day, he was starting to get a bit irritated.

"You won't get any answers from them."

The wizened old voice brought him up short and he turned to see an old man, his colorless eyes open to show the whole world his blindness. He had a walking stick in one hand, and a bag in the other.

"They've taken vows of silence you see." The man continued. "They will not speak to you or anyone."

Naruto sighed, rubbing the back of his head in frustration. "Well at least you talk. Look, I've gotten separated from my...friend. I'm not really sure where I am right now."

"You are in the Kaigeshio temple. In Bird country."

"Bird? Cyrus dragged me to Bird?" He muttered, almost to himself, but not quite. The older man's hearing was exceptionally sharp to make up for his blindness.

"Indeed." He answered. "Now young man..." He lifted the bag he was holding. "These are for you?"

"Huh?" Naruto blinked, staring dumbfounded as the older man held out the cloth bag.

The blind man "stared." expectantly.

Reaching forward Naruto took the offering, unraveling the bag, he found a small stash of suplies, and clothes inside. "What's this for."

"Its for you my boy." The old man answered. "The monks are silent. Not foolish. You arrived here with little more than the clothes on your back needing shelter from what I understand. You must go somewhere and you have no supplies to get you there."

"I don't have any money to pay you..." The blond said, looking over the equipment provided. White robes, not entirely unlike the monks own and a cache of salted meats and some fruits, along with some very basic camping gear was wrapped up in the backpack sized bundle.

"These men have no need of money."

"What do they want?"

"They did not tell me."

Naruto went to open his mouth before he realized the old man was joking, an unmistakeable quirk to his lips. His eyes narrowed into slits, annoyed at himself for being had. "Well...I guess...thanks?" He said, tying the bag and standing up.

"That would be the appropriate response." He said. "Will you be going now or after the morning meal."

"Nah. Thanks but I think I've already taken more than what I should." The blond Jinchurriki answered, standing to his full height and hefting the bag over his shoulder. "I wouldn't want to make any more trouble for you."

"It would be none at all as far as the monks are concerned."

"They'd change their minds." Naruto smiled, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish grin. "Trouble seems to just follow me everywhere."

* * *

Inuzuka Hana was not used to being called away from her clan's compound.

She was a chuunin in rank and still took missions from time to time, but it was not the norm. Her norm was as a med nin, specifically for her clans canine members. She could heal humans well enough but her specialization meant that she was far more useful to her clan where she was. "On base" because if something ever did happen to her, she would _not _be an easy person to replace. Her ability to actually understand the dog, put her far above any other med nin that could treat the animal.

So getting called in for a mission was not her norm.

But she never shirked from her job when she had to do it. She wouldn't be a proper Inuzuka if she did.

She stood in Tsunade's office waiting for said Hokage.

Soon enough the woman marched through the door

"Hokage-sama." She greeted.

Tsunade grunted, waving a file before tossing it on her desk as she went around it to sit at her chair. "Right. Hana." The Hokage sighed rubbing her forehead with a growl, as though trying to scare away a headache.

Hana raised an eyebrow at the impromptu greeting but said nothing more. Her job gave her a headache sometimes too and she didn't have the well-being of a whole village riding on her choices. She clasped her hands behind her back and waited.

Finally, after thirty seconds or so, Tsunade seemed to find the appropriate mission brief. In the stack. She slid it across the desk towards her. Hana reached for it and picked it up, eyes perusing over its contents.

"You'll be heading north tomorrow. Our informants have reported strange movements near the Oto border. We wanna make sure its nothing. Given the climate between Iwa and Kumo, it could be any number of things at this point."

"May I ask why me specifically?"

"Because your three dogs can cover a lot more ground than one Inuzuka tracker." Tsunade answered bluntly. "Your job is to find whatever's going on up there, if its significant. Two others will go to protect you."

"Should I bother asking who?"

"Not really." She answered with a shrug. "Mainly because I haven't decided yet. Given the unknown nature of what could be happening, versatility would be more important than specialists. But whoever I do pick will meet you tomorrow morning at the northern gate, eight AM."

"Non-combat scouting mssion usually requires stealth experts." Hana put in with a shrug. Even if it is someone from Iwa, or Kumo, they're fighting eachother, not us for once, they'd have no reason to attack."

"Could still be Oto." Tsunade answered as she cracked her neck. "Don't worry. I won't be sending a fresh faced chuunin for you to take care of. They'll be competent enough."

Hana shrugged. She usually liked to know who her teammates would be beforehand. But, it was ultimately the Hokage's decision and it made little actual difference. Just a pet peve of hers. "Alright then." She bowed. "Good evening Hokage-sama."

Tsunade nodded, and Hana stepped out as the blond woman returned to her mission briefs.

* * *

Well here you go. Bit fillerish but things are moving along once more. I hope to keep a steady update rate for this story. So chapters might be this length normally, or a bit longer. If you the fans prefer longer chapters with a more spaced out update ratio, tell me and I'll adjust, if such is your preference.


	19. The statement

Hana sat on the bridge railing, one of her dogs standing on its hind legs letting her scratch it behind the ears as the other sat, curled up at her feet while the last was at the edge of the bridge digging furiously for something or other.

Civilians came and went on their normal routine just a few yards away in the village road, with the occasional traveler making his way across the bridge after entering the gate and the even less occasional chuunin squad leaving the village for their missions or patrols.

She was beginning to wonder when exactly her partners for this mission would finally arrive when someone finally marched up to her. She could admit to being surprised at his identity.

"Hatake? The Hokage's sending you with me?"

Kakashi smiled tiling his head as he reached down to pet one of the Haimaru triplets that approached him. "Mah mah. I actually asked for the mission when I heard about it. It'll be good practice."

Hana raised an eyebrow, not really understanding the need for Hatake Kakashi of all people to practice on a C rank mission but his meaning became a bit more understandable when, someone else got to the bridge.

Kakashi turned and greeted the new arrival with a smile. "My bad habits are rubbing off on you at last."

"Oh shut up!" If it wasn't for the pink hair Hana wouldn't have recognized the young woman infront of her as Haruno Sakura.

Gone was the bright red dress, along with any traces of baby fat that may have been in her at the age of twelve. The girl was lean with wiry muscle and her hair was long enough to reach her waist, dressed from head to toe in black clothes that were not too dissimilar from Anbu gear sans the cloak and steel plates. Her Konoha headband was around her neck, the steel glinting at her throat like a gorget

"I actually have legitimate reasons for being late."

"I'd love to hear them."

"Why so you can use them yourself later?"

… "I admit to nothing."

"Soooo." She decided to cut in before this continued too far. It could be amusing but they had a job to do. "I'm thinking we should get underway right about now."

Sakura turned to her. Smiling "Hi. Your Kiba's sister. Hana right?"

She nodded, jumping off the railing. "Yup."

"Well now that we all know eachother..." Kakashi turned and marched toward the gate. "We should get moving like Hana said. We're wasting daylight."

* * *

The man paced the width of the room.

"Meet? She wants to meet!"

He was skeletal thin, deathly pale, his long hair thin and brittle more a corpse than a man while his nails were cracked and filthy. The heavy silken robes and finery did nothing to hide the unpleasantness of his features.

"Some kind of trick. It has to be!" He muttered to himself, biting at his already horrid nails. "Get me out, expose me to their assassins, attack me, kill me. Fire sides with Earth now-"

"My lord."

The muttering man turned so fast he nearly tripped over his own feet. "Mokou! Mokou have you heard!?" He shouted walking up to the new arrival, a hunched back figure with his face hiding behind a masquerade ball mask, its smiling hollow cherubic face pretending to pass itself as a child.

"Mokou!" The lord quailed his hands digging harshly into the hunchback's shoulders. "Mokou they're trying to kill us all now!"

"We don't know that my lord." _'Mokou' _said placating, as though speaking to a child as he reached up to remove the Kumo Daimio's fingers from his shoulders. "They're just requesting that we attend a summit meeting."

"No, no no Mokou! You don't see as I see! You don't see the traps." The white clad lord shouted gesturing magnanimously. "They want to kill me, they want to kill Kumo! They want to kill-"

"You are ever so wise my lord." The hunchback said, blithely interrupting the raving man before he could really get started. "But we must not show that we are weak or frightened. Allow me to send someone in your stead."

"Yes-Yes. Send someone. Someone strong, powerful. That can kill these treacherous vermin when they think us vulnerable and attack! Call in my Samurai, my ninja and my armies. We will be ready to destroy Konoha and Iwa both.

Mokou bowed. "My lord is ever wise. It shall be as you command."

Tactfully, the hunchback figure bowed out, leaving the cracking Kumo Daimio to his own personal ravings.

* * *

Who woulda thought Monk robes were so comfortable?

I mean really. It was ridiculous! There were so many folds of cloth that it seemed like this should be blisteringly hot, heavy and stifling but the white robes felt as smooth as silk. He was starting to think the seamstress that made this was a seal master in hiding who decided to dedicate her or maybe even his life to making perfect, comfortable clothing.

The robe itself was white, almost criminally so. People who lived up on a mountain shouldn't have clothes this white. He almost felt bad for how dirty it would get with him as its owner wandering around. It'd be gray soon...

But for now it was white, the clothes he wore beneath it were simple gray and black, nothing fancy which suited him just fine. He'd strapped his kunai pouch onto his hip, hooked his weapon onto his belt tied a handful of shuriken under his sleeves and was currently making his way north east.

North west was Iwa, where he wouldn't go anywhere near considering Cyrus' hunter nins were Iwa nin and he ran the risk of being recognized; South was Konoha and South west was Suna, two places where he'd be found at a glance.

So he was heading north east to Kumo.

He'd heard stirrings of some bad business happening up there between Kumo and Iwa, but hopefully he could just pass on through while either waiting for Cyrus or for the thirty days to be up for him to contact that Kushina woman.

The only thing that sort of had him worried was the fact that he would have to pass through Oto territory. Though he figured it was such a small chance that Orochimaru, Kabuto or Sasuke for that matter would just...trip across his path, and they were the only people he knew of Oto that could recognize him.

So the risk should be miniscule really.

…

But seriously was this stuff made of silk and no one told him?

* * *

The fire crackled in its pit, the flames dancing merrily as smoke drifted up into the sky.

Hana came back into the camp with some dead hares, one of the triplets had his muzzle coated with drying blood, his brother and sister perked up at the sight of them while Kakashi looked up from where he was cutting up some vegetables for the stew. "Good job, leave them there, I'll start skinning them in a bit."

Hana nodded, setting down her kills beside him before walking over and sitting down by a tree stump scratching at one of her dogs behind the ears.

"Perimeter traps are set." Sakura announced as she joined them by the time Kakashi half way through skinning the second rabbit.

The copy cat nodded absentmindedly.

Finally Hana decided to broach the curiosity that had been nagging her for a while. "So Kakashi, call me nosy but why drag your student out to a mission for _practice_. Practice is for the training grounds, not-"

"live missions." He smiled. "I was a chuunin too ya know? I know the mantra."

Hana nodded, then looked to Sakura as the pinkette sat. "No offense by the way."

"None taken."

"Truth be told, Sakura's already proven herself rather apt at combat for the last few missions we've been on. Now we're testing her ability to remain undetected. Its kinda hard to test that against me for obvious reasons.

"You could have always asked a chuunin or two to help you out."

"Not the same. Stealth is the one aspect of our job training cant really cover. The environment of the training grounds is too familiar and too controlled for a skill that can be broken by just putting your foot down in the wrong spot."

Hana shruged. A fair point. Though she did think doing it on a mission was a tad too risky considering that missions tended to be, you know, somewhat important and it going to hell could mean people getting hurt or killed or even the village loosing something a lot more valuable than a single life, or even a team of lives.

Then again, it was a C rank what were the chances too much would go wrong on with Sharingan no Kakashi on point?

* * *

"They have four."

The snake sannin rubbed the bridge of his nose, sighing in aggravation. "Four out of nine..." He muttered to himself.

"And Pein will be zeroing in on the Nibi and the Sanbi and the Rokubi soon enough. The only ones currently out of our reach are the Hachibi, and of course the Kyuubi."

Orochimaru pulled his gaze towards Itachi's projected image. "Can you stall them further? What's Kushina doing?"

"Kisame and I have done all we can without appearing suspicious or inept which is just as bad. Kushina has sent out warnings to the remaining bijuu and their villages, but whether those were heeded or not has yet to be seen. Her resources are primarily being spent in the north, looking at the brewing war between Kumo and Iwa."

Orochimaru worked his jaw, thinking, the cogs slowly turning in his mind. "I am near Oto's southern border. Which of the three Jinchuuriki is closest to me?"

"The Nibi, our reports suggest however that she is neither trusting nor overly easy to take down. She is somewhat overconfident however. That's why Pein will be sending the immortals after her."

"Hoping Hidan can cut her before she gets serious I assume." He mused before shrugging. "I'll have to send agents up there to try and assist her if I don't go myself."

"Wouldn't that be far too conspicuous? It would put you right in the cross hairs of Akatsuki, moreso than what you are already. Not to mention Kumo will take issue with you stealing their Bijuu."

"Four out of nine is acceptable, seven out of nine isn't, especially when one is missing and the last can be overwhelmed by all of you going after him at once if he proves too obtuse. Pein would rather keep himself below the notice of the villages and with good reason. The moment he tips his hand like that is the moment he stands in the crosshairs of the entire ninja world and it wont be long after he's killed because of it."

"Hmmm."

The door to the chamber suddenly opened, revealing Kabuto, his silvery white hair framing his face. "Orochimaru-sama." He greeted adjusting his glasses.

"Speak." The snake hissed as Itachi's immage faded to nothing.

"Our border guards have reported a breach sir."

"And they didn't deal with it?" The sannin snarled. The ineptness of people was astounding.

"No sir. I don't believe they would have been able to do so. Considering that among the infiltrators is Hatake Kakashi."

That made the sannin pause then he slowly turned around to stare at his subordinate.

Kumo and Iwa were sending small probing teams at eachother. Oto was dead in the middle of that no-mans-land. Tsunade no doubt wanted to know how far things had escalated before launching that summit. If they were still at the point of simple jeers and faints or if skirmishes had already broken out.

A chuunin squad was understandable...

But Hatake...

That wasn't understandable. Tsunade was sending him here to say something. What that message was he couldn't say.

But he certainly had a response...

Tsunade might be rather wroth if she got one of her best jounin back half dead, but Oto was his territory, and though a 'truce' of sorts had been reached, she should learn not to take...liberties.

He wouldn't kill the man. But he would teach him and Tsunade not to step back into Oto territory uninvited, and unwanted; again.

Snakes were, after all, territorial creatures by their very nature.

* * *

Well this chapter is short as hell. But the next chapter will be much much bigger. Other than the fight, Naruto, finally meets Kakashi and Sakura again after all this time, and maybe even Sasuke too ;p


	20. The little mouse

"What's up?"

Hana frowned, standing up as she wiped her hands. "Well...there was definitely a fight here I can say that much."

"How big?" The jounin asked.

She shrugged. "Not much, a dozen at most." She sniffed. "Judging by the scent I'd say it happened about a week ago."

"Any idea where they disposed the bodies?"

There was a howl in the distance. Hana smirked. "Now I do."

By the time they made it to the site, Sakura was already there, scratching at Hana's happily panting dog. "You're such a smart tracker. Yes you are. Yes you are."

Kakashi sweat-dropped. "You know...we're kind of on a mission here...in enemy territory...in very real danger."

And Sakura just ignored him as she proceeded to rub the enthusiastic dogs belly.

Hana marched over to the four ash piles. "Guessing this side won."

Kakashi nodded. "Yup. Winning side burns their friends, takes the enemies back for autopsy. Corpses can sing a villages secrets a lot prettier than live subjects can sometimes."

She nodded kneeling down and sifting through the black ash. "Don't suppose they'd be stupid enough to leave forehead protectors.

Kakashi shrugged. "Not reliable anyway. Could easily be planted, make another village look like the bad guy."

She shrugged. "Alright so we've got, four John does. I don't know about you but from what I saw around the terrain, the battle damage and such is consistent with lightning and earth jutsu."

Kakashi nodded, putting in his own two cents. "I can tell you there was at least one water specialist though."

Hana nodded. "I'll try to track them. If we can narrow down the direction they left in we might be able to at least determine who the hell won. Then we can get back and-"

There was a hissing sound, far too loud to be natural that had all three of them go on alert.

Then, slowly, creeping free from the trees large snakes circled the clearing. The Haimaru triplets barked and growled, their hackles rising as the three Konoha shinobi prepared themselves.

"Oh? Planning to leave so soon? But you've only just arrived."

The pale shadow of the snake sannin morphed in from the gloom of the trees like a wraith. Smiling wide. "I would be remiss if I did not offer you hospitality."

There was a shift in an upper branch to their left, revealing Kabuto crouching atop the wooden perch as the three Konoha nin prepared themselves to fight.

* * *

Naruto perked up.

The whole forest did really.

He would wager it wasn't very often these poor animals were buffeted by the shockwave of an explosion.

"You know..." He mused to himself. "I can already hear him bitching at me now."

He made his way closer.

* * *

_You know..._Kakashi thought to himself. _I should be used to this by now. _

Honestly his track record rather spoke for itself.

First the wave mission. Then of course when he went to find Naruto and Sasuke, which should have been a C rank before he got ganked by Itachi and Kisame of all people just randomly dropping in his lap. A few other jobs he'd done in the last three years with Sakura.

And now this.

With team seven...or what was left of its memory, one would sign up for a boring C rank. Everyone else would find it perfectly safe. Haruno Sakura and Hatake Kakashi? Well pray it only goes up to a B rank with some common chuunin or no name jounin.. Otherwise the enemies will be elites from some village or another that would boot it up at least to an A.

Honestly he was gonna start getting paranoid about accepting anything higher than a B. If this kind of thing started happening with A ranks or S ranks then they' were going to be royally screwed.

But still, no mater how used to it he should be he wasn't, so that just made it doubly unpleasant to just stumble across one of Konoha's most wanted S class criminals' and his A rank sidekick, smack dab in the middle of nowhere.

His feet touched the ground with a rough skid, stopping his backward momentum as he escaped the edges of the blast. "Hana with me!" He snapped, the Inuzuka chunnin rallying her three companions and appearing at his side, singed but otherwise unharmed. "We'll deal with Orochimaru."

"This isn't a combat mission." She warned.

"We can't escape. His summons can transport him and he's faster than both of you! Sakura!" He barked.

The pink haired kunoichi appeared at his side in a swirl of leaves.

The copy cat turned his single exposed eye onto the expressionless eyes of his student. "Deal with Kabuto."

She smiled.

* * *

It wasn't often an Oto-base was active. Normally each member of Orochimaru's nomadic, secular force was calm, quiet almost peaceful in the crypts he chose as his places of operation.

It was why Sasuke found himself raising an incredulous eyebrow at the fact that his meditations were being disturbed by noise of all things.

He took a deep breath through his nostrils, stood up and marched out of his chambers into the hall.

Oto chuunin and administravive workers were running this way and that way like panicking ants in the tunnels of a mound.

He reached forward and grabbed one.

The man looked angry for a moment before realizing who exactly was infront of him. He paled.

"What's going on?"

The man's mouth opened and closed. Stuttering for words.

Sasuke reached for his blade, placing his hand on the hilt. "Start talking, or start loosing pieces."

"I-i-infiltrators!" The chuunin nearly squealed. "Orochimaru-sama ordered us to prepare to move out just incase they discover our location while he goes to deal with them with Kabuto-sama."

"Hn...who are they?"

He shook his head. "I don't know!"

Sasuke let him go. "Get back to work."

It was rare for anything shy of an elite jounin to move that fast.

* * *

The fire dragon roared through the upturned dirt cloud rushing toward its target only to meet an unflinching wall of hardened dirt. Smashing, and breaking over it like water over rock.

Orochimaru smiled, dropping the wall and extending his hands to release several snakes at the Jounin.

With barks and snarls Hana's dogs leapt into action, biting the attacking creatures at the necks, filling their jaws with snake flesh as they held down the beasts, pulling the hissing summons away from Kakashi. Their tails slithered free of Orochimaru's sleeves, allowing their bodies to coil around the nin-ken as the dogs merely bit down harder, looking to sever the heads from the rest of them.

With a sick leer the Kusanagi blade was spat out of his mouth, his inhuman tongue coiled around the hilt as he spun it around himself, not even bothering to turn as he parried the kunai thrust from Hana, the legendary blade slicing the diamond shaped steel like a waxed candle, forcing the cursing Inuzuka to duck and weave away from the slashes and thrusts, bending and curving her body as she moved back into the surrounding tree line while Orochimaru kept his eyes firmly fixed on Kakashi.

He drew back his tongue, releasing the weapon's hilt to catch it in his hand, smirking before a snake, the size of a carriage exploded from beneath his feet, lunging for the startled Hana, with a screeching hiss looking to swallow her whole.

With another curse Hana growled, almost barking.

The last of her ninken lunged from the trees at her command, lightning chakra crackling along its fangs and claws as it spun in a vicious flesh tearing Tsuuga, smashing into the side of the snakes head as Kakashi descended on its head from above to plunge an earth spear through its neck, pinning it to the ground and halting the beasts lunging strike, dead.

"Thanks-But I had things covered."

The jounin nodded.

"Nice to have you join us Kakashi-kun." The snake sannin smiled, turning around, removing his gaze from the other Kakashi to face them fully Kakashi let the genjutsu of his fade to nothing as he stood to his full height. No point in holding it if Orochimaru knew it to be there.

"A jounin and a chuunin...and one little gennin for Kabuto. Are you sure little Haruno won't need some help?"

Kakashi, cracked his knuckles, rolling his head to do the same with his neck. "She can handle Kabuto long enough for us to deal with you."

The snake sannin looked around, feeling his summons disperse, the three ninken dogs snarling and growling, their hackles raised. He noticed the saliva from one hissing and bubbling as it touched the ground, smoke seeping out from the other's open fangs and the last still sporting white, cracking electricity between its teeth.

He always did like a good wager.

* * *

"Well well well." Kabuto chuckled. "Little Sakura-chan is all grown up" He commented as the girl perched herself on a tree above him, after having evaded a few of his strikes crouched like some ghoulish gargoyle as she stared down at him with flat green eyes.

Then she smiled, tilting her head like some curious songbird. "Kabuto-kun, its been too long."

He smiled a bit before jumping away, feeling the brush of air at his feet as a razor thin whip of water cracked across the place he'd just been standing in.

The silver haired traitor smirked as he deduced her most likely disadvantage. _'Taijutsu.'_

He landed, barely a moment before another water whip cracked the tree branch he had jumped off of.

He jumped between trees, rapidly closing the distance between himself and the pinkete; his hands alight with blue chakra.

Sakura moved from her perch, jumping backwards from tree to tree, water whips and kunai flying from her hands towards the approaching med nin.

Kabuto felt the sting of the blades cutting into his flesh, glancing strikes that were mostly dodged as his speed all but swallowing the yards between them.

When he came in close, striking in mid air it was over laughably fast, a feint, and a strike, her throat was cut open by the chakra scalpel, blood exploding from her lips.

That's when Kabuto frowned

Blood didn't bubble up that quick.

He pushed chakra through his body, fluctuating the flow and the Sakura in front of him faded to nothing, revealing the fact that he was rapidly approaching a tree with a wad of lit explosive tags resting over it.

He formed a clone, the construct yanking on his coat to change his trajectory. He would still be caught in the blast, but better ten feet away than right on top of it.

He didn't even land before the explosives went off, the shock-wave shoving him through the tree branch he intended to land on, snapping a rib with brutish ease.

The medic nin hit the ground with a roll, already repairing the damage to his body with unreal speed.

* * *

Orochimaru allowed himself to pause, the explosion kicking up dirt and splinters of wood as the orange glow of fires pierced the shade of the trees. He spread out his senses, searching for the girl and his apprentice to find both alive and well. Save for the fact that Kabuto's chakra was fluctuating as though the boy was injured.

He laughed. _"Did you get careless Kabuto-kun?"_

He brought his blade up, effortlessly slicing through Kakashi's descending kunai as the man came down with a straight reverse grip slash, landing in front of the snake sannin in a crouch.

Orochimaru kicked at the man only for Kakashi to swivel his leg to absorb the blow with his shin, fluidly reaching his feet before he began exchanging blows with the snake.

Blocks, parries and counters flew between the two, Kakashi's slightly superior strength countered by the Hebi-style's greater flexibility.

Soon enough Orochimaru Grabbed at Kakashi's fist while the man gripped his sword arm.

"Why Kakashi-kun you've gotten better. Not even using the Sharingan yet."

Kakashi would have responded if all his effort wasn't currently focused on stopping the snake sannin from turning his wrist and slicing open his arm with the poisonous Kusanagi in the process.

The crack and splintering wood was enough warning to turn Orochimaru's gaze away from Kakashi onto the onrushing Hana Inuzuka as the chuunin attacked him, a spinning dervish of claws and fangs that tore through the tree tops to get to him.

With one kick to Kakashi's stomach he doubled the man over, leaping over the man with a near grace as Hana's Tsuuga tore through the part of the branch he'd been standing on, missing Kakashi's hand by mere inches.

Mid flip, Orochimaru straightened his body, extending his sword arm and piercing Kakashi through the left lung.

Rather than blood it was a sticky, tar like webbing that exploded from the construct, ensnaring Kusanagi, his hand, and his right leg as he landed in an unyielding, sticky grip.

The screech of a thousand birds tore through the forest as the real Kakashi hurdled towards the sannin at inhuman speeds.

With the sound of tearing flesh, the smell of ozone and burnt meat Kakashi's lightning encased hand ripped straight through the pale monster's guts, nearly severing him in half as he rushed past the man to land on a different perch.

The life faded from Orochimaru's eyes before a pair of fingers emerged from the inside of his mouth, pulling open his lips and jaws to reveal yet another snake sannin, healthy and whole, his depraved smile still spread across his face.

He looked up as one of Hana's nin-ken dogs landed on a branch directly above, the hound breathing out a black, noxious smoke onto the area before leaping away, allowing Hana, the dogs and Kakashi to regroup, obscured by the black smoke.

Landing next to Kakashi, Hana was grimacing, her face a little green even in its feral, beast-like state. "Ok, I think that might be one of the most disturbing things I've seen in my adult life."

"Focus." Kakashi calmly spoke. "Let your guard down and he'll take you out."

* * *

Kabuto barely felt the rib shift back into place before a shadow fell over him

He backpedaled, barely avoiding the kunai that fell straight down over his head in a reverse grip slash.

Sakura stood, faster than he expected, exploding with a series of powerful, punishing kicks that Kabuto was hard pressed to block surprised by the kunoichi's surprising skill.

His chakra scalpels flared to life again, moving to slash at Sakura's approaching foot when the attack quickly changed its trajectory, striking at his ribs rather than his face, he wrapped his arm around the leg holding it in place for the other scalpel to cut open her tendons when she jumped, her free leg cocking back and striking the arm to pin the scalpel against his shoulder as she used the force and his current lack of balance to slip free, rolling on her back as she hit the ground to reach her feet.

Kabuto saw his opportunity and took it, lunging forward to grab at the long, pink hair that trailed after her.

He grasped at the long locks and in the next second found his hand sliced to ribbons and his ankles, waist, neck and arms tied down to the ground by the razor wire he'd grabbed among the strands.

Sakura looked up, smirking at his shocked face. "They always go for the hair."

Her hand crackled with lightning, and in the next moment the screech of a thousand birds filled their air again for a second time.

She rushed. And Kabuto smirked.

There was one thing she didn't know.

He was a wind element.

He waited, biding his time until the last possible moment before wind shaped crescents cut the wires to nothing, their taut resistance instantly going slack as he moved to dodge and exploit the Chidori's greatest available weakness without the sharingan.

His world became little more than blinding white agony as, in an instant, his left arm was ripped off at the shoulder as she followed his dodge, guiding the technique to tear through flesh, bone and sinew.

He gasped, falling onto his knees as blood cascaded from the open wound.

'Bu-but-" He struggled, pushing himself to his feet, ignoring the macabre display of his own arm twitching on the ground as he turned to look at the smirking Sakura. "How?"

Then he sensed it...he hadn't been looking for it before...hadn't even thought to search for it...A genjutsu so miniscule...

He fluctuated his chakra, coursing it through his system.

And one of those sea green eyes turned bloody red, the three tomoed sharingan spinning slowly within the iris.

"Look underneath the underneath." She taunted her smile a wicked, cruel thing. "No one cares about the little mouse when the famous Wolf is the one snarling.'

Kabuto grit his teeth, using chakra to stymie the blood-flow before he passed out.

The moment was thoroughly broken however when a loud clapping sound rang out through the forest, followed by an unmistakeable voice that made both combatants eyes go wide.

"That was _totally awesome!_"

Kabuto and Sakura's heads swiveled around, finding the owner of the voice poking his head out from a bush, grinning like a loon.

"Honestly, I really should have kept quiet but _damn _Sakura-chan!"

"Naruto?" She questioned; shocked, disbelieving, incredulous and a cocktail of a hundred other emotions running through her at the sight of her long missing teammate.

The blond smiled.

"I'd have to agree with the dobe for once." Everyone turned their eyes again finding Uchiha Sasuke standing one a tree branch. He turned his eyes to Kabuto. "You've gotten weak Kabuto."

And somewhere in the back of her mind Sakura recognized just how absurd this whole situation was.

She started laughing.

* * *

Orochimaru frowned, nearly pausing as he sensed Kabuto's wildly fluctuating chakra signature.

He slipped into the shadows of the trees, using the darkness of the canopy to conceal him as he focused, realizing that, unless he was trapped in a massive Genjutsu, which he doubted, Kabuto trully had been grievously wounded."

Had the Haruno girl injured him that badly?

It was the Inuzuka girl however that drew his attention. "Hatake, was anyone else supposed to be here?"

"No. Whoever it is its got to be one of Sound. Where are they?"

"Near Sakura. You sure they're Sound? Whoever it was sounded really happy to see your student." She said, rubbing her ears.

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow. It must be a returning patrol of Konoha that had stumbled on their battle to help. That would explain Kabuto's injuries.

He spread out his senses, trying to see how many there were when he felt Kakashi do the same.

It wasn't long before the both of them reeled in surprise as a voice just barely managed to be heard through the distance.

_"Call me dobe again I'll kick your ass Teme!"_

* * *

And Team Seven meets again. :p


	21. The most surprising ninja

Naruto was smiling.

He was smiling so wide it was like he'd never even left and they were seeing each other after three days rather than three years, as if this wasn't the most bizarre, random reunion Team seven could have ever had, in the middle of a random forest in rice country.

Half of Sakura wanted to punch him across the face for having that smile. The other half of her was still laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of the whole thing.

It would catch up to the more violent half soon enough.

Sasuke's eyes panned the both of them, raising a single, thin eyebrow at Sakura's insistent laughter and Naruto's wide, beaming face. Even he had to admit somewhere, this wasn't exactly how he ever pictured running into them again would be.

Finally, Sakura seemed to calm down breathing through hiccups of laughter.

Naruto spoke, fully stepping out of the bushes, scratching at his cheek as he looked at the recovering Sakura. "Well someone's happy."

"Happy?" The pinkette questioned, straightening, her eyes gaining a dangerous edge. "Oh I'm just ecstatic Naruto. In stitches." She cracked her knuckles, and her neck. "Let me show the both of you."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted. So it was true then, Naruto had left the village. Either that or Sakura was blowing something he'd done or hadn't done _way _out of proportion.

The blond in question was waving his arms around in an over-dramatic way. "Oh come on!" He shouted. "My reasons for leaving were way better than his! Kick his ass!"

"As if either of you could." The Uchiha taunted, watching as Naruto turned to glare at him, making eye contact across the open expanse, ensnaring the idiot in a genjutsu- that was dispelled a second later.

Naruto grinned. "Neh, Sasuke-chan's gonna have to try a little harder than that!"

Though surprised, he gave little more than a derisive snort as he reached for his blade.

He was surprised when he found his hand refusing to respond, activating his sharingan, the three tomoe spun within the bloody iris as he dispelled the paralyzing genjutsu, and then pierced the second one overlapping that one.

The Naruto he'd been staring at vanished in a second and the real blond was rushing him, a wide, naginata like weapon in his hands, the wind chakra that formed the blade whistled a high pitched, low volume whistle as it cut through the air towards him.

The Uchiha drew his blade, and with a clang of steel striking steel the two weapons met, with Sasuke being careful to keep his blade on the metal shaft rather than test its durability against an affinity that was sharp enough to slice stone.

Naruto shifted his stance, the force of Sasuke's block diverted with precision Sasuke had only come to expect when fighting Orochimaru as he struck for the narrow opening with brutal speed that Sasuke moved to parry just as quickly.

Both boys had been paying so much attention to each-other, both were caught flat footed as with twin kicks, their weapons were pushed aside, their stances fumbling to correct the shift in force as Sakura's clone smirked before exploding in a massive chaotic firestorm.

Sasuke grunted as he skid along the ground, escaping the blast radius, singed but unharmed.

Naruto emerged a second later, yards away, staring at his slightly singed robe as though he were about to burst into tears the wind blade howling with flames before the tongues of orange fire guttered out.

Sasuke turned his eyes upwards, easily peering through the gloom of the forest canopy to find her standing at the highest tree tops.

He lunged, feet finding purchase from one piece of bark to another as he attacked, lashing at her legs only for the kunoichi to leap away. His feet found purchase on the same branch, nearly upside down on its surface as he looked up/down at her retreating form

Then the branch he was on gave a lurch and he soon realized he was falling back to the earth, Naruto's wind blade having sliced his platform off at the base.

The Uchiha turned his eyes to the blond in time to see him finish his hand seals for what he recognized as a great breakthrough.

The buffeting air pressure of wind hit him like a charging bull, if he didn't know how to absorb the blow he was sure some of his ribs would have broken. As it was, he twisted himself through the air, legs smashing into the trunk of a tree with enough force to make dents as his blade crackled with lightning before pure, white energy shot forward, closing the distance between himself and Naruto in less than an eyeblink.

It stabbed the blond in the gut, only for him to vanish in a cloud of smoke.

Then Sasuke's head was lobbed from his shoulders by a wind blade, falling to the ground as the body melted away into wisps of oily smoke.

Naruto growled then he yelped in pain as some hundred something pounds of Kunoichi fell right on the small of his back with a brutal drop kick.

Sakura skid to a halt on the tree, latching to it with her hand first before pivoting her legs into position.

She didn't have long before she had to pirouette out of the reach of Sasuke's sword, her body spinning as she backed away, blocking the follow up kick with her arms but it still had enough force to knock her off her perch, sending her plummeting down to join Naruto.

Then Sasuke felt a rather hard yank on his sword arm, pulling him down as well, his eyes glimmered, recognizing the eddies of a genjutsu that had been placed on him when he'd engaged Sakura. Dispelling it, he saw a chain coiled around his arm, extending from the counter weight of Naruto's weapon to lash around his sword arm up to the elbow as Naruto yanked, sending the whole of team seven crashing back down to earth.

All three landed with heavy crashes, Naruto in a roll, Sasuke with merely his feet and Sakura's hands and feat tearing off the bark of a tree as she hit and slid down its surface despite the Chakra grip.

The three teens eyed one another, assessing their probable skill levels after that brief exchange.

Naruto was the first to grin, taking up a stance that would allow him to defend himself from either one of them should they choose to attack. "This is fun."

Both Sasuke and Sakura looked at him like he was crazy. "We really need to re-evaluate your sense of fun Naruto" Sakura drawled.

The blond shrugged. "Oi, you try living with a crazy ass cyclops on a mountain for three years and see how much fun you have with human contact."

Sasuke humphed, filing that information away for later when he felt a hand on his shoulder, turning he found the hand belonged to none other than Orochimaru who, even though was still smiling, had a tenseness to his body language. "We're leaving Sasuke-kun."

The Sharingan wielder raised an eyebrow curious at this hasty departure, even as Kakashi and the other Konoha Inuzuka he didn't know arrived at Sakura's side.

Naruto frowned, making a show of looking at his flanks before sighing dramatically. His shoulders slouching. "Feeling really outnumbered here."

Suddenly there was a spike in Chakra, all eyes turning to the source to find Sakura staring at Orochimaru, her Sharingan eye crying tears of bright red blood.

The leader of Oto was not stupid, and he knew to never underestimate the Sharingan. His hands slammed down to the earth, a massive snake summoned into the world before its body was ripped apart by the black void of the Kamui, unwittingly taking the blow for his summoner before vanishing back to the summoned realm. The sannin was surprised, but showed no outward signs of such, he'd have to be careful of that ability in the future.

Sakura's eyes rolled up, and one could easily see that the woman had nearly blacked out before catching herself, panting and heaving as her limbs shook with weakness.

Orochimaru scoffed, she was years away from being anywhere close. "Lets go." With a blur of motion, he Sasuke and the wounded Kabuto made their escape.

Sakura didn't wait another moment before she all but collapsed, held up only by Kakashi's arm around her waist. "I warned you about using that!" He said tersely, clearly angry at her disregard.

"I thought I could get him."

"Just because it worked once doesn't mean it will work again, Orochimaru has far more experience in combating the Sharingan." He paused. "We'll deal with your disregard for orders when we get back, I've trained you better than this!" She nodded, contrite.

Kakashi turned his eyes to the blond who was trying, unsuccessfully to slip away given the fact that he was backing up from three very pissed Ninken. "Naruto." He said, rolling his tongue for words pushing away his anger at Sakura's recklessness to give his voice a more jovial quality. "Surprised to see you here."

The Uzumaki scratched the back of his head, retracting his weapon to its original, hilt like form as he hooked it somewhere under his robes. "Well, I am Konoha's most surprising ninja."

"Try Konoha's most surprising missing nin." He said, setting Sakura down gently as he stood to his full height. "With standing orders to take you back alive, I'm guessing its so Tsunade-sama can beat you half to death herself for making her worry."

Naruto scratched at his cheek, smiling a little guiltily. Kakashi continued. "I don't suppose you'll make it easier on us and just come quietly?"

But I can't go back." The blond whined.

"I'll buy you Ramen?" Kakashi ventured, watching as Hana circled around to get at a better angle.

"But I don't wanna get hit." He pouted.

"Oh I'm sure it won't be that bad." Kakashi answered smiling, noting somewhere that this had to be the most bizarre 'surrender' back and forth he'd ever been a part of. "Tsunade-sama might even give you a hug and everything, who wouldn't want that?"

Naruto's face scrunched up. "You do realize she's like...what knocking on sixty now?"

"Doesn't look it."

"You know what...no." The blond shuddered shortly before a pack of nin ken dogs sprouted out of the ground like freakish plants, looking to bite down on his shoulders and limbs to hold him in place like they'd done to Zabusa ages ago.

Naruto jumped, the white robes barely scratched at by the dogs before Hana's Tsuuga caught him in the back mid jump, pushing him over to Kakashi who's handseals were no doubt preparing some kind of incapacity jutsu.

Just as Naruto reached him the blond exploded into a dozen white birds, their fluttering wings smacking him in the face as he gasped in shock.

"Gen-jutsu." Sakura wheezed the Sharingan still spinning slowly in her eye as Kakashi dispelled the illusion, he hadn't even felt it there.

He didn't even know Naruto was capable of Genjutsu!

Both he and Hana blinked away the illusion, struggling to find the blond only to see him struggling with Hana's dog, rolling around in the dirt.

Hana was about to pounce when both she and Kakashi noticed something.

The two weren't fighting.

"Oh you like to play dont-cha?" The blond asked rhetorically, scratching the dog behind the ears, the same one Sakura had been scratching just a few minutes earlier before the fight had broken out.

Kakashi sweatdropped. "Naruto..." he drawled. "-This is serious."

Naruto stopped his actions looking up and grinning at th copy nin. "I know. You won't be able to find me though. I'm just a clone, the real Me's long gone."

Kakashi slapped his forehead turning to look at Hana as the Inuzuka sniffed around.

"Son of a-" She growled, glaring at the blond clone. "His scent is everywhere!"

The clone laughed. "Who's awesome!" He got a kunai in his chest for an answer.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Aggressive much?"

"Little brat is not getting the best of me twice." She barked and the dog that had been previously playing with the clone, along with the other two trotted up to her.

"What are you doing?" He asked, watching as she took out a soldier pill and fed it to one of her dogs. The animal immediately grew in size nearly twice the size of a wolf with bristling red fur.

"I'm going after him. I may not be able to sniff him out but this girl can, especially now." She turned to look at Sakura. "You've got to keep Haruno-san safe, she can't defend herself without any chakra I'll go."

Kakashi thought for a moment, considering. He wasn't sure if Hana would even be enough to take Naruto down as he was now. Being able to place a Genjutsu over him, even without the Sharingan wasn't exactly something that could be pulled off by an amateur and he doubted Naruto would actually hurt her. He hadn't seemed too keen on doing such here.

Still, he didn't like it. But letting Naruto just waltz away when they could at least track his movement to a possible destination, he disliked even more. "You can pursue to the border, then circle around to bird country, its not far and its friendly territory. I'll meet you there. If you feel you can't win disengage; This is a success even if you just manage to tell us what direction he's going in. You don't need to bring him in alone."

Hana nodded, mounting her dog before she and the nin-ken rushed through the underbrush; Her mount pursuing the strongest scent with its now heightened sense of smell.

Kakashi knelt down, picking up Sakura and maneuvering her onto his back. The pinkette groaned.

"See." He teased. "Now we can't go after Naruto because someone doesn't know how to listen."

"Shut up." She weakly punched him on the shoulder. "Gimme a soldier pill and I'll go after him myself."

Kakashi shook his head "You know you can't have those."

It was true, while her Chakra reserves were low and the soldier pill could easily refill it, it wreaked havoc with her normally perfect control, making all of her techniques, right down to the most basic tree walking, utterly useless.

Between that and the eventual crash that left her knocked flat for days on end and could hit from anywhere to an hour to twelve and a soldier pill just wasn't worth it in her case. Chakra was a finicky thing when it came to outside influences. Shizune had been looking in to designing a new one for people like her who had adverse effects to the common pill but it was still a ways away.

She opened one eye, staring at the back of his head. "You seem to be taking this awfully well."

"Well I could be angrier." He admitted. "I mean. One of my former students is getting away and its more or less your fault since I can't just leave you like this in Oto territory with a chuunin level ninja."

She groaned.

"But I'm sure you'll be kicking your ass come tomorrow. Chakra exhaustion is worse than a hangover for you if I recall correctly."

"...Gimme a damn pill. I don't need Jutsu to punch Naruto into next week."

He whistled a jaunty tune as he made his way out of Rice country.

* * *

Orochimaru arrived at his base easily, dispelling the Mass Genjutsu for himself, Sasuke and Kabuto doing the same before the illusion reasserted itself behind them.

The men dispersed like schools of fish parting for a predator, He barely even acknowledged Sasuke or Kabuto as the first returned to his meditations and Kabuto moved to get some medical help for that arm.

With hasty orders to make the preparations to leave within the next two hours to the chuunin he entered his office, quickly gripping the larger scrolls and unrolling them onto the floor, two seals glowing on their surface.

He waited, no more than a few minutes that could have felt like a small window of eternity before he received an answer, Tsunade and Itachi's forms appearing just seconds apart from each other, neither one could see the other.

"Naruto has been found, Northern Oto get on it before someone else does." And before either could respond, or ask questions he cut the Chakra, gathering everything of vital importance within this place before they had to leave. Now that Akatsuki and Tsunade would be moving around here, even if it were to remain undiscovered it was too close to the proverbial fire for comfort.

He wondered if he should never-mind Kushina's ire and go after the boy and capture him himself. But after a moment he growled, pushing the thought away. The woman was just _begging_ for a reason, any reason to gather up some of her best, not limited to Itachi and Kisame to sick after him like he was some rabid dog.

Their falling out years ago had done little to appease her, she would try to have his head the moment he crossed a line. The Uchiha had warned him as much, half in warning on his own part considering Sasuke could get caught in the crossfire.

For now he'd have to trust Itachi, Kisame, Jiraiya and Tsunade this time and hope they didn't botch this like they had three years ago.

* * *

Naruto laughed, his hands behind his head as he strolled through the forest, confident that he'd managed to give his pursuers the slip.

It'd been nice to see them again really. Kakashi was...the same. But Sakura had grown...a lot and he wasn't just talking about her skill as a Kunoichi. Sasuke was...Sasuke, still a dick.

Naruto frowned, one hand going from the back of his head to his chin. "Wait...I do still have to get him away from Orochimaru...I promised Sakura-chan." As he thought about his newly remembered promise, he heard a curious sound behind him, turning, a slight feeling of dread fell on his stomach.

Finally, two nin-ken and one very large beast crawled out of the forest, the Inuzuka woman he'd left behind with Kakashi nearly an hour ago, striding its back as she half snarled half smiled at him.

"Found you!"

Naruto backed away, the massive red beast snarling with acid dripping from its jaws, the other two circling with lightning and smoke coiling between their ivory teeth.

"Now..." He said, holding his hands up in a placating gesture that was defeated as he drew his weapon the wind blade extending to a sword. "Lets calm down...talk about things."

"Lets not!" Her feral visage twisted into a sneer her hounds lunging with barks and snarls.

Naruto winced, quickly extending the weapon to its lance form in order to use its longer reach to keep away from the nin-ken, gripping the weapon so the wind blade was under his shoulder and he was poking the dogs back with the counter weight. She was a Konoha Shinobi, and he knew how much Kiba would care if Akamaru got hurt, Akamaru was almost a teammate in and of himself. He really didn't want to hurt them.

He took to the trees with a burst of Chakra from his legs, the dogs would take longer to reach him up there than an average human, and they were definitely out of their element with only the often precarious perch of tree branches for their four legs.

At least until the big red one tore the tree off of its roots with a pounce, its front paws smashing into wooden bark that sent the tree right over.

Naruto jumped from one perch to another only to find Hana lunging from the larger Canine's head, twin kunai, tossing Shuriken his way, none aiming for anything vital.

He landed, spinning his naginata like weapon with clangs of steel striking steel as he blocked the metal stars, swinging at Hana with the blunt counterweight.

She gripped the thing, chakra coating her whole arm as she snarled to absorb the impact, landing on his same branch the kunoichi swiped at him with claws that could cut as well as any knife, slashing at his eyes she heard him cry out in pain as he backed away.

She grinned. Then she frowned. "Kai!" That had been _too_ easy. The Genjutsu fell away, so did her dogs down below, her real dogs still chasing the blond and the blond trying to dodge them and _still_ get away. Genjutsu was rather difficult to pull off on animals if the caster didn't know the intricacies of their nervous system.

Naruto himself cursed, struggling with the dog that was biting at his arm, for real this time. "Damn it pooch! You don't get off me Akamaru's gonna be short a family member."

In response, the dog just bit down harder, and Naruto cursed.

It hadn't broken the skin yet but the pressure was enough to send the pain clear across his arm.

He looked up, the other two dogs closing in from where he'd kicked them away along with their master.

"Oh that is it!" He tossed a Shuriken back, further away before replacing himself with the star, the dog yelping as the replaced star cut the roof of its mouth with how it came into existence.

The blond sheathed his weapon, forming another Great Break Through, this time he'd make it strong enough to get them off his back for a good long while, and he wouldn't stop running till he got to Kumo territory.

When the gale struck, it was with the power of a Typhoon, not unlike the one Orochimaru himself had used to blow him away from his teammates during the chuunin exam, catching Hana mid jump, the Inuzuka had no way to brace herself against the powerful winds, the buffeting force halting her dead before sending her careening back through the trees, branches, leaves and upturned debris flying right along side her as the technique lifted and pushed out everything in its path.

She looked at her dogs, worried as she heard their yelps of pain, struggling to make sure they were alright.

She didn't notice the tree branch that smashed into the back of her head until the world went dark and she fell from the forest canopy.

When she came to, the sun had already fallen below the horizon the world shifting awkwardly, it didn't take her long to realize she was moving.

She groaned, her mouth was dry like it was filled with cotton balls. Her vision, what little she could see through the blurs and blobbed distorted shapes, was swimming, making her head spin and her stomach heave.

The world stopped moving and then she could see it swim again, earth met sky before she was resting on her back, staring up at inky darkness before a blond blob of hair was hovering over her.

"Hey guys she's waking up."

_'Guys?'_

Then she felt the unmistakeable texture of dog tongues lapping at her face.

She sputtered shaking her head as her vision cleared enough for her to see two of her dogs and the blond Nuke-nin she'd been fighting hovering over her, with the two beasts panting and woofing happily and the blond smiling awkwardly.

"Hey." He said.

She went to move when a lance of sharp agony ran up the whole length of her arm. She gasped lurching up to look at the limb that was in a makeshift brace, wood and rope encircling her forearm and wrist. "What the-"

"You broke your arm and cut up your leg pretty bad on the way down." Naruto supplied, allowing her to look at her left leg, a gash running from the side of her knee, to coil back around to her heel. Her ankle was twisted too given the swelling.

She hissed, then noticed something. "Where's Kemuri?"

Naruto tilted his head before snapping his fingers. "Oh you mean your other dog. I sent her off to go tell Kakashi-sensei what happened, figured she'd know how to get back to Konoha or wherever Kakashi said to meet up. Your Inuzuka dogs are really smart."

Hana looked up at the blond missing nin. "Where am I?"

"We are currently in Kumo territory." He answered, smiling. "I kinda got carried away in the last attack and you banged up your head pretty hard. When I saw how bad it was, I couldn't just leave you there, so I told-uh...Kemuri to go tell Kakashi, fixed you up as best I could, picked you up and took you with."

The incredulity on Hana's face made him smile.

"You do realize your job as a missing nin doesn't exactly extend to saving your hunters right?"

Naruto shrugged. "You're complaining? I could always leave you back in Oto for a random patrol to find you."

Hana fell back again, laying her head flat on the ground. "You can't really blame me for being surprised."

Naruto smiled even wider as he moved to pick her up again. "Didn't you hear Kakashi-sensei? I'm Konoha's most surprising ninja!"

She pushed him off. "Yeah, I appreciate the help but I'll leave n-" She gasped, the pain in her arm and her leg flaring up."

"You can try." Naruto admitted. "But It'd be kinda stupid considering you're behind enemy lines, miles away from a friendly face with one injured arm so no handseals and one messed up leg so no running either.

She used her good arm, reaching for the soldier pill pack she had on her. One of her dogs could carry her ba-

"Where are my soldier pills?" She asked slowly, feeling the holster empty. Craning her neck to look down she noticed the holster on her left leg had a gash to the side, probably from the same branch that had cut her leg up.

Naruto leaned over to look at her injury. "Oh...guess you lost em."

She smacked her forehead, snarling. "Magnificent."

Naruto smiled, somewhat apologetically. "Don't worry you'll be able to get back after you get healed up." This time when he moved to pick her up she didn't resist, she really had very limited options and she'd rather not test her unlikely, and very likely slightly insane, benefactors patience. "For now, you're with me. Name's Naruto. Yours?"

She rolled her eyes. "Inuzuka Hana."


	22. The proposal

"Are you telling me?" Hana began, her tone carefully neutral. "That the reason you dropped that map in the forest all those years ago, wasn't because you wanted to throw us off or confuse us...but because you couldn't _read it_? So if we just would have kept on walking for like five more minutes we would have found you by the stream a mile north?"

Naruto smiled. Nodding once. "Yes!" He replied cheerfully.

The slap of her hand over her forehead was loud enough to bounce off the trees. "I can't believe this."

Naruto laughed, finishing serving a bowl of steaming soup as he marched over towards the injured chuunin, handing her a tin bowl and a wooden spoon before serving himself and sitting next to her. "Yeah. Cyrus always said I had luck to make a gambler green with envy."

She scoffed, slurping down broth, and a rather big potato. "I'll say. So why'd you do it?"

The blond paused, with a mouthfull of noddles. "Hmm?"

"Why'd you leave Konoha?" She clarified eying him from the corner of her eye as she took another bite.

The blond gennin chewed the soft noodles before swallowing. "It was better that way."

"Why?" Her hand made a circular motion, asking him to continue.

"Because if I stayed Akatsuki would come for me in the village." He answered taking a piece of chicken this time in his spoon. "They would have hurt everyone to get to me." It was at this time Hana's nin-ken got impatient, realizing Naruto had blissfully forgotten about giving them food, both animals pounced, one nipping at Naruto's ear to distract him the split second the other needed to reach forward, bite down on the edge of his tin bowl and carry it off with dexterous skill, only loosing a few drops of broth.

"Oi!" The blond glared. "You could have asked!" He heard the snickering from Hana, frowning at the Inuzuka. "You should train them to behave."

She snorted again, reaching over and flicking the Nuke-nin on the nose. He rubed the abused piece of his face and glared further. "They're war dogs. Not show pieces."

The blond grumbled, getting up to get more soup. Hana frowned as he did. He was definitely not what anyone would have in mind as a Nuke-nin and his reason for leaving...

"So you're saying you left Konoha to protect it?" She asked at his back. "You do realize that all Shinobi have enemies right? The Sho, Ni, San, Yon and even Godaime Hokage's all have or had a lot of people after their heads. Just because someone's after you is no reason to just leave."

"Yeah but the difference is they could fight..." Naruto answered sitting down again, now gripping his plate protectively, glaring at the impish looking dogs. "I was a gennin. A shitty one trick pony one too."

"I heard you were pretty strong all things considered."

"Meh. Maybe for my age." He said. But all I ever did was use shadow clones, I used them for everything. I could make a million of them but when the bad guys can take out a million and one it really makes no difference. I mean have you seen some of the Akatsuki members?"

She shrugged. "Not really."

He reached into his back pocket, fishing out a well worn bingo book with page-markers. "Here. Read that and tell me if shadow clones, summoning and the Rasengan would have been enough."

She took the book, opening it to the marked pages. She read for a moment before letting out a low whistle. "Alright I take it back...looks like you leaving was a brilliant plan. You getting ripped to pieces alone is preferable to you getting ripped to pieces with company.

Naruto nodded, "Exac-" He paused, face scrunching up. "Wait..."

Hana chuckled. "So tell me something. Now that word about your appearance is no doubt spreading far and wide-"

"How do you figure that?" Naruto asked.

Hana gave him a deadpan stare. "Sakura-san knows, so does Kakashi, once they get back, Tsunade-sama will know, so will their friends. Once word reaches Anko, _everyone_ will know."

"Or Ino." The blond nodded to himself, a serious face morphing into something akin to horror before he placed his head in his hands. "Oh that cycloptic bastard's gonna kill me."

Pushing aside his eccentricities she kept going. "What exactly is your next move gonna be? If you're gonna keep me around...I can't exactly move much for another week at best, My skills as a healer don't translate well from animals."

Naruto rubbed his chin, his previous despair all but gone. "Well...the original plan was to head up to Kumo, get some supplies and then circle on the coast to Wave country. The rest of the thirty days should be up and I'd...uhhh." He paused, remembering that this may not exactly be information to be carelessly tossing around. "Move on to plan B?"

Hara took another spoonful of soup. "Plan B?"

"The awesome need to know basis plan that you don't need to know right now." He answered with a self assured nod"

Hana shrugged. It was about time he displayed some missing nin tendencies.

"But since you're here." He continued. "I guess we'll be heading up to Kumo and staying there until you're all better. Hey! Maybe some of their medic nin can fix you up faster! Then I can leave...or just wait out the days up there." He shrugged. "Meh, never been much for planning anyway plans suck...they never work. I just...do things."

Hana raised an eyebrow. "How do you _survive _out here?"

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke was not considered a genius for nothing.

More than his aptitude for the ninja arts, was his ability to analyze a situation and come up with an adequate plan or strategy to win. It was something that had allowed him to easily climb the ranks in Otogakure, now able to defeat Kabuto and the best of Orochimaru's jounin, including Guren. More than his sharingan was the ability to take _what _he saw and capitalize on it.

And what he was seeing from Orochimaru in these last few days was very suspicious, even for the snake.

Leaving the base in northern rice country, that was fine_, _sending out every single ninja in his employ, many of them tasked with tracking down Uzumaki, not so much.

Orochimaru was notoriously wary of Akatsuki. Going anywhere near Jinchuurikki was a big step out of his comfort zone. Fighting them, killing them or worse, capturing them or the Bijuu would put the snake sannin square in the crosshairs of whomever was leading the enigmatic band of cloud wearing power houses.

Something Orochimaru would never be stupid enough to do.

The mans' most recent behavior itself was also suspicious. For years Sasuke had been prepared for the snake to try stealing his body, waiting for that moment of weakness before the transfer, only for Orochimaru to simply look fit as a fiddle one fine day having transferred himself to an entirely different host and not even giving Sasuke the time of day.

Either he was waiting for the Uchiha to grow even stronger a _stupid_ idea...in a handful of more years Sasuke was certain he would be able to kill the snake sannin. He might even be able to accomplish such now if the Sannin tried to take him alive.

Or Orochimaru never intended to use him as a host in the first place. Something that did not add up in the slightest.

Secrets were currency in Oto. One could live or die by them.

It was time to add a few more coins to his account.

* * *

"You're surprised." Itachi observed placidly from the other side of the communication array.

Kushina nodded. "Hmm...Cyrus wasn't scheduled to bring him out of hiding for another three months. Something must have happened."

"Orders then?" The Uchiha asked, listening as Kisame finished setting up their camp for the night, skinning two hares.

"You two can get away from Akatsuki?"

The Uchiha nodded. "We were tasked with locating the Gobi Jinchuuriki, we're not too far from where he was sighted. If he's heading towards Iwa its likely we'll cross paths, or at least come very close.

"You told me Hidan and Kakuzu were heading to Kumo right?"

"For the Nibi." He nodded. "That is correct."

"Hmmm. Chances that they'll attack a Jinchuurikki that isn't their target."

"Slim." He answered. "Kakuzu does nothing without the incentive of money. And Hidan will rarely fight unless he can kill. The better question sempai;Is, will Naruto stand by if he finds a fellow Jinchurikki might need his help."

She stared at him for a moment before her features became somewhat downcast. "Yes...I suppose that is the better question."

She took a breath, releasing it through her nostrils. "Find the Gobi. Get Pein off your back and then go north. Find him and bring him straight to me. I'll inform Tsunade on what's happened if she doesn't know already. You have...ten days."

The Uchiha raised an eyebrow. That wasn't much time at all. "Hasty?"

She said nothing, waving her hand in a dismissive gesture before the two way connection was severed.

He turned towards Kisame, the blue skinned man grinning. "Guess we better move huh?"

"Its quite unlike her." The Uchiha admitted. Forming a single seal, holding it for several minutes before one by one, the forest around him was filled with pitch black raven, each thrall cawing down at them.

The seal fell away, and each of the black beasts took off in a dozen directions.

Kisame watched them all fly away. "With luck we'll have something by morning."

The Uchiha nodded in agreement.

* * *

The village of Kumogakure was...impressive.

With the base built on the cleft of high mountain, and every building serving as a crown of iron, steel and glass for the peaks the village almost looked like something out of a fantasy book setting.

Konoha seemed almost plain by comparison.

I mean sure, the dense forests and multi layered defensive grids that could be activated during war time to have the enemy running around in circles before ever being within a hundred leagues of the village gave it a natural defense, coupled with rough forest terrain and prime ambush locations, Konohagakure was a powerful fortress in its own right but compared to Kumo the village hidden in the leaves just looked so _boring._

"Woah." The blond said, impressed.

"Damn." Hana agreed "I've never been here before. Old vets used to say Kumo was impregnable but I always thought it was exaggeration."

Naruto nodded, still marching up the massive flight of steps that led to the village gate. Any ninja who wasn't ready for a full cardio workout wasn't gonna be getting up here in any condition to fight.

"Halt!" One of the guards, a jounin by the looks of things, called out. He'd heard Kumo was the most militaristic of the big five. Looks like they took village security a bit more seriously than Konoha.

"State your business." The jounin didn't even bat an eye. Something the blond had to give him credit for he must have made quite a sight dressed in white monk robes and carrying an injured Konoha Inuzuka on his back, with two nin-ken wagging their tails behind them.

"Just passing through." He said, hefting Hana on his back. "Need some med nin help here."

The jounin narrowed his eyes, pulling out his bingo book as he began to scan the pages in his peripheral vision while keeping them both squarely in his sights.

Naruto waited for that second, that moment where the jounin would see something in the pages and his eyes would flicker down to focus.

He didn't dare blink.

In an instant, the genjutsu was over him, he was never more grateful that the Bingo book put all pictures on the right hand page and all the known stats of the ninja on the left, otherwise he never would have pulled it off. He left the blond hair, too much of an eyecatcher for an obvious switch, but the eye color changed to dull brown, the whiskers vanished, and the cherubic face of his twelve year old self was now sporting a visible scar on his chin.

The Jounin blinked, looking at the picture and then back to him before he flipped through the remaining pages.

He jumped down, pressing a hand on his shoulder and rushing his chakra through Naruto, then Hana, making certain they weren't under a Henge.

Finally he seemed satisfied, nodding. Koetsu and Izumo should be taking notes from this guy...

"Alright." He said before waving at someone beyond the village gates, probably a guard house. "You'll be allowed to pass, the hospital is-"

"Yooooooo!" It was a holler, with the decibel level of a horn. Naruto and Hana blinked with open confusion as the Jounin paled, all eyes going this way and that way for the source.

A tall dark skinned man with multiple swords strapped to his back landed infront of them with a crash and a roll, getting to his feet right in Naruto's face before striking a pose.

"Mr. Nine! Mr. Nine! Meetin' you has made this day oh so fine!"

Naruto blinked.

Suddenly six Anbu Shinobi encircled him

The dark skinned man looked around. Dropping his pose. "You fools are crampin eighto's style! Meetin' new people only happens every once in a while!"

And Hana, slapping her forehead in disbelief, once more found herself wondering the same question she'd asked just a day or so earlier. _'How the hell do you survive out here?'_

* * *

Tsunade smacked her head down on the desk. "You're not making my life easy Kushina!"

The red headed woman shrugged through the holographic image. "Naruto's the one that chose to just show up three months early."

The Senjuu woman rubbed her temples. "Do you have any idea what a headache this is going to be? I have Jiraiya in Kusagakure gathering intelligence right now. Even if I could get a message to him it'll be a week before he can rush through the country to get to where he was sighted. That means Naruto will have a weeks head start. I have him listed as a C rank, bring in alive Nuke-nin. How long do you think that'll last?"

Kushina shrugged. "You don't know his current ski-"

"It'll be higher than C. And anyone who sticks him in a Bingo book with a B, or god forbid an A rank is gonna be throwing a flare to any Kage worth his salt to offer him a place in the village when they see the surname Uzumaki and no real crime on his record. The surname alone will have Kumo completely up in arms. They tried to kidnap you if you'll recall. I can't afford to have Naruto in a different village and I definitely can't afford the resources right now to send a team after him! This thing with securing a safe meeting spot for Kumo, Iwa _and _Konoha is taking up everything I have to spare right now.

Kushina breathed. "I understand. I've sent word to Itachi and Kisame. If they don't get things done...I will."

At that, the sannin looked up. "Kushina..." She warned, a hint of reproach in her voice.

"I'll handle it." The redheaded woman affirmed. "For now, try to contact Jiraiya. I'll see if I can find out where Naruto is moving and what the hell happened to his sensei."

Tsunade stared at the image, speaking up before Kushina decided to cut the connection. "Hey." She called, making the redhead glance up. "You gonna be ok?"

Konoha's Hannabero shrugged. "Ask me again in a few days and we'll see."

* * *

"Oooohhh! Sempai! Look!" Tobi shouted, pointing.

The masked nin was so excited Deidara actually believed for a moment the irritating man had caught sight of the Sanbi off the coast.

But when he looked through the veil of his straw hat all he saw was Tobi pointing excitedly at an inn with the smoke of cooking fires emerging from the ceiling.

"I'm so hungry Sempai lets get something to eat I'm starving neh!"

Before Deidara could reply Tobi was gone, already ordering his food from a little old man.

The Blond haired Iwa nin sighed, rubbing his aching forehead. How the hell this idiot got into Akatsuki he'll never know. Was Pein-sama really so desperate after Sasori?

He grumbled to himself though, he still walked closer, he was actually starting to get hungry.

* * *

Minutes later the two were seated on one of the benches, small hand held boxes of rice and fried eel in their hands having paid the little old man. There was a woman somewhere in the house too, probably his wife, and another man cutting up the hedges that fenced the house, neatly trimming the bushes.

"Itadakimatsu." Tobi muttered taking hold of his chopsticks as he opened the box, gentle wisps of steam rising to caress the mask.

Deidara took out a clump of rice and meat with his own sticks, bringing it to his mouth as he tried to stare discreetly out the corner of his eye to see if Tobi would reveal his, up to now, hidden face.

He took a bite, then, a second later, he spat it out.

"Tobi its...poi-" His hand rolled up to the inside of his skull his body slumping forward before Tobi caught the man by the collar, tossing his food aside and drawing a kunai as he settled Deidara against the wall.

"No need for that." The gardener said, dropping his big scissors, stabbing the point into the ground as he turns and marches closer, the straw hat still hiding a portion of his face. He had a thin, almost non existent mustache and a stubble that could one day grow to a full beard. "Your partner's just sleeping...I only wish to talk without prying ears Tobi-san, or whatever it is you're calling yourself these days."

The Sharingan flashed within the single eye hole of his orange mask. "And what's your name then?"

The man smiled. "Oh no one really. Tezai they call me. And I believe we can come to something of an arrangement you and I.

* * *

Here we are. The next 3 to 5 chapters will be very interesting and soon enough you readers will be getting your answers as to what this whole thing has all been about. :p

Till next time!


	23. The Gardener

After standing in this office for five minutes Naruto could safely sat that the Yondaime Raikage was the most intense, and intimidating old man he'd ever seen.

He didn't even know biceps could grow that big.

The man was wearing a _robe_ for god sakes and he could _still_ see them.

For all the intensity in his gaze the man may as well have been boring a hole through his and Hana's skulls. The Inuzuka was peeking out from behind his shoulder, clearly irate at the fact that her nin-ken was were on collars at the end of long sticks. Even though the Chuunin holding them were hardly abusive it was the principle of the thing.

"Bro! There's an explanation for this! No need to get pissed!" The Jounin that they had learned was named killer bee, kept oh rhyming with his wild hand gestures beside Naruto.

"My men report that by your description, this is the Jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi no Kitsune." A growled, still doing his best to drill through Naruto's skull with nothing but the power of his eyes.

"Yeah, Gyuuki keeps old B appraised so that no surprises are raised!"

"Who's Gyuuki?" Naruto asked, blinking. Whoever the hell had tipped off this B guy must be a real powerful sensor. He hadn't even stepped into the village for crying out loud.

B struck another pose. "Why, don't be a tool! Gyuuki's the Hachibi no Kyogku ya fool!"

Naruto's mouth fell open before he smiled. "Hey! You're a Jinchuuriki too!? And I don't have to beat the crazy out of you?"

"Crazy might be a relative term." Hana muttered to herself, smirking as one of the Kumo kunoichi beside her snickered at the joke.

B however, paused before reeling. The cause of his reaction a mystery to the others in the room before he lunged forward, enveloping Naruto (and by proxy Hana) in a sudden hug. "You rhymed!" He sobbed. "Someone finally understands me for the first time!"

If Naruto was supposed to be understanding him...he kinda felt far from worthy of this praise at the moment.

The blond blinked. "I'm confused." Then he thought. He would have put a finger to his chin if his hands were free. "Or is it bemused?" He wondered.

B sobbed harder and hugged tighter.

"Could someone get me a chair or something so I can get out of this man hug!" Hana pleaded, though she had the distinct impression that wouldn't be happening since her captors seemed to be enjoying the spectacle.

* * *

If she was not the Hokage that had to appear dignified and collected at all times, Tsunade might have given in to the overwhelming urge to bang her head against her desk until she was unconscious. Or in the alternative, the desk broke.

"Are you telling me." She groused, rubbing her temples. "That not only do I have Uzumaki Naruto, by your account now a B to A rank Nuke-nin jinchuuriki..._our _jinchuuriki too boot...dragging with him, Hana Inuzuka, a young woman of one of Konoha's most prestigious and well respected clans, who is of breeding age, on his way to the most militaristic of the five Shinobi villages. The same village that not once, but _twice _attempted to kidnap heiresses of Konoha clans in an effort to gain their clan techniques and Kekei-genkai by turning said young women of breeding age into baby making machines?"

She paused. "Lets just make sure I'm hearing you correctly on this..."

Kakashi laughed nervously. "Now...I think we should all remember a very important thing now Tsunade-sama."

"And what's that Kakashi?"

The man pointed. "He was the bearer of bad news here."

Hana's nin-ken barked in protest.

If Tsunade did not have to appear dignified and collected at all times she might have given in to the overwhelming urge to slam her head against the desk.

But since she was the Hokage, such things were not acceptable. Occasional shows of force however, were expected, and even to a degree applauded.

Kakashi was barely able to replace himself with the Anbu bodyguard in time before the Godaime's paperweight would have smashed into his face. Only the shattering of a porcelain mask was left to announce his escape.

* * *

After A had forcefully pried B off of the blond Jinchuurikki, leaving the man sulking in a seated position in the corner of the room, the Raikage resumed his glare.

Only difference was he was now standing infront of the two Konoha nin, in all his full, towering, muscular glory.

Naruto felt like he'd seen trees that were smaller.

A held up an open Bingo book Naruto's grinning picture in place, complete with the orange jumpsuit of his youth.

"A C rank Nuke-nin to be brought in alive to Konoha. An Uzumaki surname to go with it and an Inuzuka woman."

Hana stiffened. Naruto felt her sudden tension.

"Give me one good reason." A drawled. "As to why I should let either of you walk out of this village. For all I know that Inuzuka girl could be a spy with those dogs of hers and you, boy...you could be a knife waiting to stab us in the back! A C rank for a Jinchuuriki...Konoha must think very highly of its little ruse." He didn't even have to finish the sentence.

"Hey!" The blond protested. "I'm not a spy! I haven't even talked to Tsunade Baa-chan in years."

"Then why are you carrying a Konoha kunoichi on your back?" A was growing impatient, and his Anbu could tell. Tensing as they prepared for the eventual order. "I've yet to hear an explanation for that, or why I shouldn't just yank the beast right out of your guts to put it in one of my loyal Shinobi.

To his credit, and A's bafflement, Naruto didn't even bat an eyelash. The youth actually smiled up at him.

"Would 'Because I'm a nice guy.' do?"

A's face said it all.

"Its true..." The blond bemoaned, sighing before his face took on a more serious expression, though it rather looked like a pout. "No one ever believes the missing nin can be a nice guy." He squinted up at A. "Well...you could kill us, but that'll just bring more problems than its worth eh?"

"How do you figure."

"Well, Tsunade-baachan's gonna get real mad if she hears you hurt one of her ninja. And do you think the other villages will like it if you take a third Jinchuuriki? What about Akatsuki, if they send two people per Jinchurriki that's six S class bad-asses knocking down your front door. Throw in three more to distract the village and thing's will get really bad." He gave a self assured nod.

A could care less about the other villages. Konoha and Iwa were the only threat, and tensions were already rising between his Daimyo and Iwa's, they would need the extra power since Iwa had two Jinchuuriki to match his if they did go to war. And neither the leaf nor the stone could put aside their differences long enough to even agree if it was day or night time, let alone form an alliance to bring him down.

Kiri was barely a shadow of what it was now with Yagura dead, his Bijuu freed their other Jinchuuriki a missing nin, and half their forces decimated through a decade of civil war and Suna may as well have been on the moon given the logistical nightmare it'd be to try and attack Kumo for them.

But that last part about Akatsuki was very true.

He'd heard about the damage they'd done to Suna and that was just two of them. Defeating the Shukaku _in the desert_ was not a feat to be scoffed at. The damage done to the villages infrastructure by the still alive fugitive, Deidara had set Sunagakure back quite a bit.

The thought of Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigaki, and Deidara showing up in his village all at once made him grit his teeth. And those were only the ones that they knew about. With six more out there, no doubt equally monstrous, he was worried about the state of his village for the time they'd choose to come here to try and capture his friends.

Unlike Onoki, he did not practically drive out his Jinchuuriki, leaving them to their own devices outside the village until it was time for them to do a job. B was his brother, and the guardian of Kumo and Yugito was quickly flowering into his top Anbu. He'd ordered her to take a sabbatical for the month so that when she'd return she'd be able to give her fullest in training with B to prepare for these S class nightmares.

The thought of Akatsuki attacking him now while he was on the brink of war with Iwa was not one that appealed. The likelihood of which would only be exacerbated by taking on a third Bijuu, something he would _never _be able to keep under wraps.

The Raikage grunted, crossing his arms. "Just what the hell are you doing here?"

Naruto's smile persisted. "Well, I was just passing through, hoping to get Hana checked out at the hospital if that's ok?"

A considered this. Konoha was the one hosting the summit meeting in a handful of weeks between the Daimyo of Hi no Kuni, Tsuchi no Kuni and Raiko no Kuni. One which he very much expected to go completely south, bringing in a healed, well and 'rescued' Konoha kunoichi could go very far along with the C rank, bring in alive Jinchuuriki that Konoha was no doubt missing. The mistrust and dislike shared between Konoha and Kumo didn't run nearly as jagged as the bone deep hatred between them and Iwa. An alliance could be possible. But only if Tsunade and the Daimyo of Hi no kuni were warm to the idea.

The Raikage considered his options.

He could order the boy subdued, the girl kept secured until it was time for the exchange.

The only problem was the boy was here...inside his village.

He knew from B and Yugito just how destructive Bijuu could really be, especially in an enclosed space.

If he tried then there would no doubt be a lot of damage in a time where every penny had to go to a potential war fund.

Best to see if there could be a more...passive compromise.

"As of right now you two are _guests_ in my village." He did not miss the Inuzuka's wince or the boy's frown. "Inuzuka-san will get the treatment she needs. And you boy will be confined to the village walls, B will be your escort." No one else that he knew of could contain a potentially rampaging Jinchuuriki quickly enough "In two weeks time you will accompany myself, and my men to a summit meeting. And there you'll be delivered into Konoha custody. Your bounty will be collected and Inuzuka-san will be returned no strings attached.

Hana frowned. This sounded way too good to be coming from Kumogakure. They were all warmongering brutes as far as local legends went in Konoha.

"Make no mistake. I am being lenient with you." The man growled, all but confirming her suspicions. "Simply because I would rather avoid the irritation of fighting. Make it so it'll be less irritating to rip your arms off and keep you alive long enough for the exchange and that will happen instead."

If Naruto was put off at all by the mans aggressive threat, he hid it behind a beaming smile. "Got it old man!"

Hana eyed the back of his head curiously she had no doubt he was already cooking up a plan of escape. And A's face said he had little doubt about this fact too.

As if the sudden agreement had given him permission to leave his corner B was again at Naruto's side, pointing out the balcony. "Alright! Lets get yo little honey patched tight! And show you round my playground while the sun is still bright!"

Naruto choked on his own spit, and Hana couldn't help but laugh as the boy's face went so red she could see it from over his shoulder.

Was the teenage nuke-nin _bashful_?

"Hey _honey_." She teased grinning like a wolf from over his shoulder as she squeezed her arms a little tighter around his neck. "He know something I don't?"

* * *

Sakura marched out of the hospital, groaning as she cracked her neck. Chakra exhaustion was always bad.

Once it hit, it could leave them bedridden for weeks, like it had with Kakashi during the wave mission so long ago when he'd exhausted himself against Zabusa.

All things considered she and many others were lucky Shizune and Tsunade had returned. It allowed ninja that suffered from the condition to recover in mere days what would otherwise take a week or two.

She glanced up at the sky, finding the sun. It was maybe an hour, past noon give or take.

Though, with her specifically ordered away from any Chakra intensive exercises she wasn't gonna have much to do. Unless she-

"Hey forehead!"

She turned her single exposed eye onto a familiar Yamanaka, smiling. "Ino-buta." She drawled.

Ino raised an eyebrow. Sakura never wore her headband like Kakashi unless she really overdid it. That led her to one conclusion. "So is it true?"

Sakura blinked. There was no possible way... "Is what true?" She ventured carefully.

"Your last mission went to shit and Kiba's sister is missing now."

Not for the first time Sakura wondered if Ino was some sort of spy master.

"We've been back for an _hour_ how in the _hell _did you-"

"I have my ways." She answered, cutting her off as she smirked.

Sakura rolled her eyes gesturing for Ino to follow, long, knee length pink hair trailing behind her as they walked side by side. "Its kinda true. Though I managed to run into two old friends."

The Yamanaka heiress blinked wondering what two old friends Sakura could be talking about when- "Wait...do you mean-?"

The pinkette nodded. "Yup. Sasuke and Naruto."

"For real?" Ino actually looked surprised, for once. Something she hadn't heard from her gossip network. Her contacts would have to be re-evaluated. "How bad was it."

Sakura shrugged. "Well...we fought...we didn't actually talk much."

"Did you win?"

"No." Sakura answered simply. Sasuke retreated with that snake face Orochimaru, and Naruto slipped away with a Genjutsu."

That made Ino stop dead in the middle of the street. "Wait...Naruto used a Genjutsu? As in...Naruto...like...dead last zero chakra control, reserves up the wazoo Naruto?"

Sakura nodded. "A good one too. Managed to fool Kakashi-sensei."

Ino shook her head. "I'd ask what you're smoking but I'm kinda scared to find out." She joked.

Sakura smirked in response before continuing. "He was heading north to Kumo, Hana gave chase, he knocked her out then he supposedly carried her off since she was hurt and he didn't want to leave her in Oto territory alone.

Ino guffawed. "Wow...Uzumaki Naruto. The Nuke-nin with a heart."

Sakura shrugged. "Sounds like that baka."

Ino turned her eyes onto her one time rival now turned friend. "So what are you gonna do now?"

"Once I'm back at one hundred percent, I'll go and bitch at Tsunade-Sama until she nets me and sensei a team of sorry-bastard-meat shields...probably your team-" She dodged Ino's swing, chuckling. "To go after him." Sakura nodded to herself, assured of her choice. "Now that we've got a trail it should be easy."

"Go with Shino-kun's team." Ino smirked. "When Kiba gets back he's gonna want to rip Naruto to shreds for taking his sister and Hinata will be there to kiss it all better when she gets her nerve up."

Sakura barked out a laugh.

* * *

Sasuke was not so stupid as to think he'd gotten in here undetected. Nor was he so stupid as to expect that his traps would hold off Orochimaru or Kabuto for very long as his eyes scanned scroll after scroll, line after line of text being absorbed through his very useful eyes.

So far none of the scrolls held much of anything of interest. Reports, finances, what one would generally expect from a hidden villages leader.

He was starting to get irritated when he opened one more scroll.

Only this time he couldn't read it.

The words danced in front of his eyes, complex and inexplicable patterns weaving and undoing themselves before his sight. A genjutsu so complex and _wrong_ even the Sharingan couldn't pierce it at a glance.

The three Tomoe spun in his eye all but drilling through the illusion to try and break it through sheer brute force of the doujutsu.

Impossibly, it held strong.

Then the scroll burst into black flames in his hand the unmistakeable fire of the legendary Amaterasu reducing it to little more than cinders.

In an instant, his world swam and distorted, the eddies of reality bending as his brother was now standing in front of him.

"Foolish little brother." The apparition chided. "And here that trap was meant for the snake."

Reality once more reasserted its hold over him, Itachi's voice and power vanishing before he leapt back as black fire exploded across the room. Only his speed and Itachi's early warning providing him enough time to escape.

He stood by the wall before he felt the cold, pale hands of the snake sannin on his shoulder.

"Curiosity killed the cat Sasuke-kun."

The Uchiha says nothing as Orochimaru chuckles waiting for the snake sannin to step past him as he moves towards the flames. "You had something that belonged to him here this whole time?"

The Sannin turned to face him, a calm placidity to his features that immediately set the Uchiha on edge.

Orochimaru was always smiling, leering, taunting. Never placid...

"I have a great many things Sasuke-kun." The snake sannin responded. "Many of which you know of, many more of which you don't. Do not think just because I have taught you everything you know, means that I have taught you everything _I _know." He laughed, slow and malicious.

He reaches into his robe, pulling out a small, almost pencil thin scroll, eyeing it with a contemplative air.

He tosses it to the Uchiha.

"Here." He chuckles. "Take it. Once you've undone the seal...you'll have the answers you seek."

"Just tell me." He grunts, impatient.

"Oh but then that would be too easy Sasuke-kun." The man drawls, smirking. "All good things come to those who wait."

Sasuke feels his lip being tugged into the beginnings of a sneer, unfurling the scroll to reveal a single, tiny seal resting in the middle of the unfurled paper in the design of a simple teardrop.

Its small size belied just how complex it would prove to be.

* * *

The man took a delicate sip of his tea, humming in appreciation. "One doesn't find tea quite like this these days."

Sitting across from him was Tobi, waiting calmly as he observed the faux gardener with his single revealed sharingan spinning slowly within the iris.

Tezai sighed in satisfaction at the tea before finally looking up to the dark haired male, carefully avoiding all eye contact.

"So..." He began, smiling. "How goes that Moon eye plan of yours?"

He went dead still.

Tezai nodded, serving himself some more tea. "That well eh?"

"Who are you?" Tobi questioned.

"Why, nothing more than a simple gardener who keeps his ears to the ground." He answered glibly. He chuckled. "Ahh...you must forgive me Tobi-san. The mind games and puzzle words you see...once someone gets into the habit its a hard one to break hmmm? I'm sure you can relate."

The cursed Uchiha said nothing.

Tezai continued. "What would you say if I told you that I am part of a very old organization that keeps an eye out for...hmmm...entrepreneurial visionaries such as yourself."

"I would tell you to go look for an entrepreneurial visionary..."

The bearded man chuckled. "Well..let me cut right through it then, I know much about you already. I know that you are one of the leaders of Organization known as Akatsuki. One that consists of some very impressive names. Uchiha Itachi, Hoshigake Kisame, Kakuzu, Hidan, Deidara of Iwa, the late Akasuna no Sasori. Oh yes...an impressive list." Tobi glared.

The smiling man's smile fell a bit. "Oh...have I gotten you angry? My goodness I must mind my manners. I forget people don't take kindly to others snooping around their secrets." The man took another sip of tea. "I know that the other, Pein acts as its prime figurehead...and more-so now eh?"

Tobi frowned beneath his mask.

"And I also have no doubt that you and I both know that once he learns of the full extent of your plan, he may be very difficult to control...or to beat. Maybe even impossible hmmm?"

The Akatsuki nin said nothing, merely kept his eye carefully fixed on this wholly new and enigmatic threat.

"Well...since that partnership is heading towards an inevitable clash between your idea of controlling the world through one, all-mighty illusion, and Pein's vision of a world held at peace with a knife to its jugular by controlling all the Bijuu, I just thought-Why this man might just be crazy enough to...oh forgive me-have enough entrepreneurial vision-to consider a partnership with an insignificant old gardener with his own grand design that will inevitably lead to inextricable conflict that will end in one of our deaths."

"You lost a great advantage by exposing yourself to me...now that I know you exist...I can prepare for you as I have for Pein." Tobi admitted, equally honest.

"Well such a thing had crossed my mind. But the truth is the inconvenience of you knowing about me is far outweighed by the sheer comfort your resources of plant men-"

Again Tobi felt himself stiffen. Who the hell _was_ this man?

"-will bring to the logistics of my own endeavors. For you see, while you and your wayward business partner Naga-oh I mean Pein of course-are fully prepared to gallantly take the five bulls by their ten horns and hope for the best, I'd much rather see the beasts gore themselves to near death before utterly crushing them. It seems to hold a bit more appeal to my taste of finesse. Not to mention my longevity!" He suddenly cried, aghast at the last sentence.

"You may be powerful enough to destroy them but, I'd simply be torn apart by those ruffians known as Kage."

"You wish to start a fourth war?" Tobi concluded.

"Oh...I wouldn't have the _audacity _to claim the power of starting something as great as the fourth shinobi war no. Just my own little slice of human butchery. And if it were to..._extend_ to other places well...that would all just be delightful happenstance by the whims of those cruel fates."

Tobi stared at the smiling man. Knowing there was far more here left unsaid. Far more still hiding beneath this gently smiling facade.

He was prepared for Pein, knew the man's strengths, his weaknesses, the skills of Konan and the six paths.

But this man this...insane...gardener was a complete mystery...one he was not arrogant enough to think of as anything less than a true threat.

Keep your friends close...

He picked up the now lukewarm tea, sliding up his mask to take a gulp before sliding it back down to its rightful place.

The smiling Tezai only smiled wider.

* * *

Whelp here ya go hope you all enjoyed it, till next time.


	24. The Warnings

The wall buckled beneath his weight, cut stone and mortar giving way beneath the force of his body as blood exploded from his mouth to dribble onto his red beard.

His body tumbled through the rock, landing inside a scalding hot-spring, he could do little more than swallow down water as he lost his direction in his disorientation.

A hand broke the surface, grabbing him by his face before lifting his full body weight as though he was a mere life sized doll. A head rushed forward like a hammerblow, cracking across the bridge of his nose. Roshi saw stars before the hand grabbed him by the face again and pushed; smashing him against a tree once, then again as his hands rose to try and form a hasty seal, and then a third time, his head was swimming, vision darkening beneath the blue skinned fist.

"Heh." He heard the monster of Kiri laugh. "Not so tough were you?"

Roshi didn't even have the strength to stay conscious anymore let alone answer. His body went slack eyes rolling up into his skull

Kisame sneered, lip curling back in distaste before he looked at the stoic Uchiha making his way through the hole in the wall. "Honestly. All these Jinchuuriki are the same. Get rid of the cloak and they're little more than B rank fodder. Lava release _my ass_...barely even got singed in this."

Itachi said nothing to that. Instead, he answered with a nonchalant shrug. "Regardless, with you handling things I'll leave. The Yonbi has made us waste too much time as it is. Deliver the Jinchuuriki and catch up to me in Kumo if at all possible."

The Blue skinned man nodded. "Right, I'll be right behind you eh. " He smirked. "Give the little blond a good scare for me eh?"

The Uchiha's body unfurled into a murder of crows, the black ravens taking flight across the skies of the elemental nations as Kisame threw the unconscious Jinchuuriki over his shoulder.

* * *

If there's one thing that could be said about Kirabe, it was 'never a dull moment'

For one thing, the man loved music. There was no way around it. He rhymed even when he was cooking. He never stopped singing or, making some kind of beat with his lips, or dancing to said beat, or dancing to some imaginary beat he wasn't even making at the moment..

Given that he couldn't leave Kumo at all, something that had surprised both Naruto and Hana when they found out, he knew everyone in the village.

And no, they weren't generalizing a few random people saying high to him. He knew _everyone_.

He was able to rhyme out their names in individual greetings..._Every, single person_.

From the youngest toddler to the eldest person he knew all their names.

And then he went off to help them do everything whenever they asked.

Bee was, essentially, on a constant stream of _pro-bono _D-rank missions.

From helping old man Satsuki prop up the pegs of his shop to playing ninja with the academy students, to giving lessons when he passed by the academy.

People thought Naruto had energy, but he was getting tired just an hour or so after mid day.

Hana was getting tired just watching the man.

For Naruto though, the most astonishing thing about the whole experience however was the _looks_ he was getting.

In Konoha, he was glared at. That was just a fact of his life. Either a glare, or on the rare occasion, an open sneer or a curse. Most of the time people ignored him, gave him a wide berth.

Bee however may as well have been the village sweetheart. Everyone smiled, even with his bad raps, eccentric dances and perpetual lack of volume control the people just..._looked _at him with something he could only describe as _love._

It was such an alien sight he actually felt like he was caught in a strange, dream. Half the day he spent just trying to assure himself that he was actually awake.

By two o'clock though, they were all a little hungry. It didn't take Bee long to drag them to his absolutely favorite place.

"Hey Bee." Naruto asked as they walked, hands behind his head. "You mentioned 'Miss two'. Why isn't she here with you?"

Bee smiled "Yugi's out on vacation! But soon she'll be back and ready for action!"

"How soon?" Naruto asked. Despite the situation of essentially being Kumo's prisoner until an upcoming exchange, he was eager to meet more people like him.

"A new moon needs to swoon before the boon of meetin miss Nii on a good afternoon!"

Naruto frowned. "A month? But the meet up with Konoha is in another week and a half!"

From beside Bee, Hana smirked. "What's wrong Naru-chan? One little _Honey_ not enough for you?"

The blond haired teen blushed scarlet, sputtering. "I-its-I'm not gonna-that isn't..." He stopped, scowling. "Stop teasing me!"

Hana laughed, and one of her ninken sounded like he agreed with her amusement.

Naruto looked down at the one, doe eyed dog tailing beside him. "Well at least you're on my side right?"

The dog nipped at his pinky lifting his hand before swiveling his head underneath the palm.

Hana snickered. "Honestly, I'd reiterate my question on how you survive out here, but at this point I'm pretty sure its just dumb luck."

Naruto crossed his arms muttering to himself. She didn't catch many of the words, but 'Next time', 'forest' and 'leave you' stood out.

She shook her head. She couldn't really help it, ever since the Raikage's office a few days ago she'd discovered rather quickly that Naruto was incredibly _easy _to tease.

He blushed, stuttered and generally tripped over his own tongue. She was almost tempted to call it cute if it didn't seem to be more like a little lamb infront of the wolf pack.

The blond suddenly perked up, remembering where this tidbit of a conversation had originated from. "Think you could take me to go see her?" He asked, turning to Bee.

"No can do ya fool!" Bee answered crossing his arms. "Big Eight likes you but don't go thinkin mama done raised a tool! Big Bro says I needs ta keep ya in the village so in the village is where we'll sleep till we sweep!"

"Oh come on!" Naruto pouted. "I promise I'll be good! You can even keep Hana-chan here-ack!" He rubbed his hand where the previously nice dog had done more than just nip this time."

Hana herself smiled winking at her dog. "Good girl." Truth be told, she wasn't comfortable being here at all. Kumo was infamous in its desire for bloodlines and unique clans, particularly because they had almost none of their own. The only Kekei-genkai of any particular note was the fabled black lightning techniques developed by the Shodaime Raikage that were passed down from ninja to ninja.

Better to be with the nice, crazy, hunted, on the run missing nin rather than inside a village that could decide '_fuck-it' _(No pun intended) at any moment and decide she'd be more use as a breeding mule for a bunch of Kumo Inuzuka.

She hoped, truth be told that if anything violent started happening, Naruto would be willing to lend her a hand like before.

"Here it is yo! The Bee will show his little buddies how to get a fix for yo munchies!"

"Huh.." Hana grunted, staring up at the sign. "Been a while since I had sushi."

"Been a while since I ate in a restaurant." Naruto returned, the two of them following Bee through the overhanging drapes. She tossed an apologetic look at her dogs, both of which sat down patiently to wait by the restaurant's entrance.

"Hey Bee!"

"Sup, Ya fool!" The Jinchuuriki smiled, walking up to the man standing behind the bar, wiping it down before their hands smacked against each other.

The older, balding man looked over Bee's hulking shoulder. "Friends of yours?" He asked, glancing at the Konoha Hitaiate still tied around Hana's waist like a loose belt.

"Inuzuka Hana." Hana introduced herself, marching up to the man and shaking his hand. She gestured to Naruto.

"Name's Naruto old man."

Bee suddenly had his arms on both their shoulders. "This here, mister nine and miss fine is old man Doku. Who makes sushi like Samui plays Sudoku!"

Taking that to mean the old man cooked well Hana sat down, smiling pleasantly while Naruto did the same, Bee sitting between the both of them.

Doku pulled out some plates and cups to serve them. "Don't see many Konoha nin round these parts." He tried to sound casual but old prejudices and mistrusts were coloring his words, if only just. "What brings you so far from home?"

"An idiot who doesn't know the strength of his own wind jutsu." She answered, throwing a look across Bee's barrel of a chest to the sheepish Naruto.

Doku raised an eyebrow but said no more, placing the cups and untensils down before he looked to Bee. "You mind giving an old man a hand?"

Without a word Bee flipped with a handstand over the bar to land beside Doku, moving into the back before returning with three fresh filets of salmon. "No need to yelp! Bee's always willing to help." He tossed the filets up into the air.

Then he drew all seven of his swords.

Neither Naruto, nor Hana had ever seen such a display before. Sure they'd been more than a little curious about the arsenal of custom blades Bee had on him but they essentially expected that the each one had a specific function. It wasn't unknown for Kenjutsu masters to wield swords that could do different things. From channeling chakra to even weaving some minor illusions to make tracking the sword that much harder on the opponent.

But using all seven of them at once?

Then, in a deft display Bee moved, and all three fish filets were sliced cleanly, evenly and in perfect proportions for sushi dishes.

Naruto and Hana's eyebrows shot up into their respective hairlines.

Bee tried to say something, but with the hilt of a sword stuffed in his mouth it was rather difficult, though the victory hops he gave on his one available leg was enough to convey the message.

"Sensei?"

The three sushi bar occupants turned, finding a dark skinned young man with a lollypop stick jutting out from between his lips, staring at the blond, the brunette and the crazy seven sword wielding ninja.

Bee very nearly squealed in glee, when two others joined the first, his old gennin team had come back from their latest mission again!

With a hop over the bar he lunged forward to wrap them all in a hug.

It took his students just a second to see something very wrong with this picture...

He hadn't sheathed his swords.

"Oh god, not again!"

* * *

Kakashi slowly inched open the door. Knocking as he peeked his one exposed eye around its edge to stare at Tsunade. "Is it safe?" He asked smiling as pleasantly as he could at the older woman.

She glared at him though after a moment she sighed, dropped her pen and let up. She could never stay angry at someone who she wasn't even angry with. "Yeah yeah come in."

The Copy nin stepped in still smiling, his book nowhere in sight as he sat down in the plush chair across from her desk.

Tsunade laced her fingers infront of her mouth, after a few seconds of silence her lips pursed, guessing why he was here already. "I already said no."

"Come on..." Kakashi actually sounded like he was giving into a whine. "She's strong! She's the best of her generation and I've taught her everything I can!" He defended. "She'll be able to beat _me _in a while!"

The Godaime reached down into one of her drawers, pulling out a thick folder, its edges ruffling with bloody red bookmarks. "She also has a list of potential disorders to go with it!" She barked, flipping open a page. "Obsessive about her teammates, PTSD from her training with you, abandonment issues, paranoia, _dual personalities. _And that's just a _start_!" She hissed. "We can handle a potentially rogue and unstable you, what we can't handle is a potentially rogue you mixed with _me_!"

"Look at my file!" He shot back, his eye glimmering sadly. "Chronic depression, Antisocial Behavior, Chronic Nightmares, Night terror-"

"I've read your damn file!" She said, stopping him as his eye began to glaze over.

"Every ninja has issues Tsunade-sama!"

"And every ninja is dangerous." She answered. "Every ninja has to be held back, every ninja has to be held in check. _Every ninja_ is a potential disaster waiting to happen. _Yes_ we _need _strong ninja but the moment those same ninja have, not only the potential, but perhaps even a very real danger of going out of control and betraying the village because of their own instability then they need to be held in check, and not given the means to trample over everyone once they've attained a level of power few can ever hope to match. She's a loose cannon! On your last mission she used Kamui which you explicitly told her _not _to ever use unless absolutely necessary. And why? Because she hates Orochimaru for taking Sasuke away. She can't be trusted!"

"You're projecting Orochimaru onto Sakura!" Kakashi shot back.

"Orochimaru, Itachi, Kisame, Deidara...every missing ninja has _one _thing in common. And that is a drive for something beyond loyalty to the village. Orochimaru wished to become the greatest ninja that ever lived, to master every jutsu. Itachi wished to push the limits of his power, Kisame wanted war, Deidara wants to show the world his _art _and Sakura would stop at absolutely nothing to get both her teammates back to make them into the shadow of whatever memory she has of team seven."

"And I wanted to surpass my father! You wanted to become the greatest medic of the world _and you suceeded_!" He said. "Just because we have goals does not mean we're ticking time bombs."

There was a silence between the two of them, the slug princess staring down the obsidian orb of Konoha's former _Wolf_.

"Tsunade-sama, Shizune-san has reached the very limits of her skill as a medic. Sakura is young, she's _strong_ and she has the potential to be one of the _greatest _ninja we've ever produced. Better than me. Better than _you _even. You can't hold back that kind of potential just because your scared things _might_ go wrong. The fourth Hokage would have never existed if that were the case!"

Tsunade glared at him a little longer before she sighed through her nostrils, leaning back in her chair.

He was right.

Truth be told, she was _terrified _of Sakura's potential.

She was getting older. As the greatest medic nin that had ever lived she could stave off the effects for another decade, she was still as strong as she was in her prime, if not a little slower, with a little less energy.

But eventually she would succumb to the relentless corrosion of _time. _She would not _be_ strong enough.

And who would be left then? Shizune? Kakashi who Sakura was already surpassing? One of the others of her generation, the best of which was Hyuuga Neji, who Sakura could already defeat nine times out of ten whenever they sparred.

Who would be left to stop her if she lost herself like so many other powerful ninja?

There was always a counterbalance in Konoha. Always someone or something to keep the scales balanced. With Hashirama it had been Madara, With Tobirama it had been the younger Hatake Sakumo, wielder of the white Chakra that had made him a Kage level ninja while Sarutobi was still a mere Jounin. With Hiruzen it had been Danzou.

With her it was Jiraiya.

There was always someone left to stop the other if it came down to it. _Something_ to act as insurance that the village could endure.

But with Sakura...for the first time since Minato Namikaze, who's loyalty was far beyond reproach since his singular goal in life had been to protect his village from the very start, there was no counterbalance. No one to fight on her level if she were to take all Tsunade could teach.

Kakashi's jutsu repertoire, his speed, his sharingan, the Mangekyo, medical chakra, perfect control, her skills for poisons, antidotes, her ability to dodge, her summons, the girls own innate _brilliance..._

The sheer number of tactics that could emerge from the combination of these two distinct styles...

All that power in the hands of a potentially unstable girl obsessed with the romanticized memory of her old team was sobering to put it mildly.

And yet...Orochimaru hadn't betrayed his home...not really. And from Sarutobi's old files and records, neither had Itachi truth be told. Though their loyalties were skewed, it still somewhat existed...didn't it?

She sighed audibly. "I'll tell you what." She said, waitching the man perk up. "In about a weeks time...I'm going to go to the summit meeting. She's going to come with me. I'll watch her. If I like what I see, I'll put her through the first stages of my training. Every three months from there she'll be getting checkups from Inoichi. _Invasive_ ones...if no red flags...other than these." She rapped her fingers over the many red slips sticking out of the folder, making him wince. "Show up after the first year, then and _only_ then will I put her through the full regiment. Understand?"

Kakashi nodded, smiling from ear to ear beneath his mask..

* * *

"So you're Bee's old gennin team?" Naruto asked, stuffing a roll of salmon and rice in his mouth.

Omoi nodded, enjoying his own meal now that the potential disaster of his sensei and his seven swords had been averted.

"So what're two Konoha ninja doing with our sensei? Karui asked, scowling at the blond, along with Hana who was sitting across from her in the booth. Bee was once more sitting between the Inuzuka and Naruto.

Naruto answered, smiling through a mouthful of sushi and rice. "Eating!"

The redheaded girl growled.

Before anything else could be said though, the four restaurant goers noticed something peculiar.

Hana and Samui were staring at eachother.

So everyone stared at the two of them in turn.

Finally it was Samui who spoke. "Is there something on my face you find particularly interesting?"

Let it never be said that Inuzuka were not straight forward.

Hana's head tilted to the side, much like her dogs as she closed one eye, squinting. "I _have _to ask...aren't those heavy?" She pointed.

Omoi, Bee and Naruto all froze in their seats, noticing exactly where the Inuzuka was pointing to.

Naruto blushed. "H-hey! What kinda question is that?"

Hana shrugged. "I'm not saying it to piss anyone off but I'm genuinely curious. I'm proud of my C's but even I can admit they get in the way sometimes. Must be a nightmare for her and Tsunade-sama."

"I know right!?" Karui chimed in, glad there was someone else in the world that agreed with her. "I mean honestly how in the world can you have a proper kenjutsu stance with them just..." She paused, holding her arms out in a vague guard stance that would hold the blade diagonally across her body. "There's just no _room_ to put your arms properly."

"They're not that big." Samui muttered, a tinge of red on her own cheeks.

"Oh yes they are." Hana shot back, smirking. "Bet you have to fight off all the guys." She winked. "And a few girls too eh?"

Naruto and Omoi swiveled their heads around to look at Hana in, almost a whole new light. Nearly knocking over their food in the process. The Inuzuka looked at the both of them before barking out some quick laughs. "You guys expect me to shove my tongue down her throat or something?"

"Will you?"

"Please do!"

Omoi got a solid _thwak _to the back of his head by both Karui _and _Bee!

The sensei of the team looked sternly at Samui. "Sa-chan, you got to remember to always use a protector!"

For once, the blond jounin completely lost her composure, her face going slack with horror. "No! You are not giving me the sex talk again!"

"Hey now Bee won't judge taste! He just wanna make sure you don't dive in for a lick with too much haste!"

Hana howled with laughter as the girls of the Kumo team looked absolutely _mortified _as all the other restaurant goers turned around to look. Samui and Karui wanted nothing more than to leave, or have the earth swallow them whole but Omoi was boxing them in.

Bee nodded to himself, oblivious, or uncaring to his student's mortification. "That's right ya fool! Ya need to keep your kinky activities safe no matter how much it might chafe!"

Omoi rolled his eyes upwards, thinking. "Wait, are we still talking lesbians or old fashioned? The chafing thing kinda threw me."

Karui, and maybe Samui too would have strangled their teammate if they weren't too busy trying to think of the fastest escape without incurring in property damage.

"If it chafes you got the wrong kind! Need to find yourself a better fit ya git!

Hana was practically wheezing tears leaking from her eyes "Oh god! Please tell me you give sex-ed at the academy! I need to hear more of this!"

At that Bee looked contemplative, considering the idea.

Naruto meanwhile kept on trying to eat while pretending he wasn't paying attention.

Stuck on a mountain for the first chunk of his teenage life didn't exactly include sex-ed in the curriculum...

Karui was just about ready to start banging her head against the table until she lost consciousness when Omoi moved to speak again and he found her hand wrapped firmly around his mouth. "_Shut up_." She hissed.

Before anything more could be said between the whole lot of them...everyone in the room fell like puppets with their strings cut.

It took the ninja a second to realize that they were under the influence of a Genjutsu but that was one second too many. With a ferocity born of sheer skill it took hold and Omoi, Karui, Samui and Hana all fell unconscious.

A second later Hana's dogs were bounding into the room, sensing something wrong with their master.

Only Naruto and Bee remained standing, Naruto could tell he hadn't even been targeted, Bee however was protected by Gyuuki.

The blond moved out of his seat, Bee following shortly after, drawing his sword as Naruto unfurled the blade of his wind weapon. The chain and pole-arm form would be useless here, too little space with too much danger of collateral.

Then, the door to the back room opened.

Naruto's heart fell into a pit as the man that had tortured him for the equivalent of three whole days stepped through the swinging portal, dark hair tied back in a loose ponytail, the deep lines across his face still present and those black eyes, that could turn red in an instant looking decidedly bored.

"Uzumaki Naruto." He drawled. "You've proven rather bothersome to find of late."

"Who's this fool! Don't nobody threaten Kirabee's bros, not unless he wants to get strung up by the toes!"

"Don't look into his eyes." The Blond said sharply as Hana's two ninken growled and barked at their sides. "This is Uchiha Itachi. He's part of the Akatsuki Bee."

At that, Bee turned serious, the very last vestiges of his playful countenance disappearing.

Itachi turned his gaze away from Naruto to Bee "Ahh, the Hachibi...You know how to pick your acquaintances well Naruto-kun."

Bee drew up the last of his swords, taking his stance. In these confined spaces his chosen style might not be very effective, but seven swords _always _threw his enemies off. No one that had ever faced Bee's seven blades at his full power had ever lived to tell about it, so no stories existed about it. He was hoping that elusiveness would serve him well here, the last thing he wanted was to be forced to call on Gyuuki's help in the heart of the village.

Itachi held up a careless hand. "Don't bother. If I wished you two dead, you'd be dead. I come here merely to offer a warning."

"What warning?" Naruto growled, his grip tightening on the sword hilt. He felt his hands slick with cold sweat. Though he'd never admit it, Itachi truly did terrify him. The man had tortured him, hunted him, and was one of the strongest Shinobi that had ever lived. Even Cyrus had said it was better to run than to ever try to engage, even with his anti Sharingan specific techniques.

Itachi's face didn't even twitch. He just blinked languidly. "Kumo should keep a closer eye on its Jinchuuriki population..."

It didn't even take them a second to catch on.

The Nibi.

The dogs had apparently had enough with the talk, growling and lunging for the throat, the animals went in for the attack when Itachi's body once more came undone with a flutter of wings, the crows flew black feathers showering the room, blinding the two Jinchuuriki and driving the dogs away with startled yelps.

When they looked back, old man Doku, was falling flat on his face, white foam escaping his mouth. The man twitched and seized as the other patrons began to wake.

* * *

As you can all well guess, next chapter we're off to rescue the Nibi where we'll see Naruto's real skills in action for the first time and how he stacks up against S class criminals.

Bee is surprisingly fun to write. c:


	25. The Immortals

Why didn't this make sense to him?

He...He was Hoshigake Kisame, the Monster of the Bloody Mist, wielder of the legendary Samaheda, S-rank Nuke-nin all round bad ass motherfucker...

So why wasn't this making sense to him?

Oh...that's right...because he hadn't picked up one of these in _years. _He always had his partners deal with this part of the traveling issues.

Discretely, he cast his eyes this way and that way, making sure no sentient creature was within sight.

If it ever got out that he'd forgotten how to read a simple map...

He needed to find Itachi _now_...if for no other reason other than to be able to play off his lack of map reading skills as laziness by foisting the duty off on his Uchiha teammate.

* * *

"Alright Bee where would she be?"

Ignoring Naruto's rhyme Bee threw his eyes around to look through the surrounding village. It was nothing big really, if there were more than fifty buildings making up the place he'd be surprised. This was a vacation resort not an area where people lived.

Still they had to find Yugito quick and not make too much of a spectacle. This place was well known as a good rest spot for vacationing Shinobi. It was almost an unspoken rule that it, and a few other places like it in other countries, were all but treated as a neutral zone. And for good reason. With the unspoken truce, places like these were some of the largest grossing sources of foreign trade that could be established in the feudal Shinobi system. That and Ninja needed a place where they could relax too. What was good for the geese was good for the gander so other villages had the peace of mind with the thought that they could let their guard down in other places like this. A wouldn't want-

There was a surge of Chakra, then an explosion from one of the Shinto temples beyond the town proper.

And just like that half the people in the crowd were sporting kunai.

_**Neutral ground my ass**_**. **He heard Gyuuki snicker in his head.

"Come on!" Bee yelled, drawing two of his swords. "Mister Nine and Big Eight are gonna rescue miss two from a grisly fate!"

"I'm afraid that'll have to wait." That familiar oh so cold voice cut in; right between the both of them, and both Naruto and Bee jumped apart, startled out of their skins with the sudden presence of the stoic Uchiha.

"_Good god he's fast!" _Naruto thought to himself, his wind blade emerging as he glared at the top of Itachi's head.

"This fool usurped my rhyme! Looks like its time for the Bee to shine!"

Bee took a stance, ready to lunge in and attack when he noticed something.

Every single person on the street, other than them, was frozen stiff.

As though caught in a stasis, they were each locked in place, some with worried looks thrown to their surroundings, others cautious, some even stuck drawing kunai.

A mass, _powerful_ genjutsu...

"_He's strong, this might take us very long!"_

"Big nine!" He shouted, brandishing his two drawn swords. "Go one and help miss two! I'll beat this one, then join you too!"

"Don't underestimate him Bee!"

"Big Eight will chew this guy like bait, ya fool!" He offered the blond a thumbs up, Naruto smiled in return before glaring again at Itachi and making a mad dash for the shrine.

Itachi's red eyes trailed after him, only breaking his gaze away as Bee rushed in to strike.

The blade of the Hachibi Jinchuuriki carved into smoke, black wisps dissipating into the air.

The Hachibi Jinchuuriki tightened his stance, two swords at the ready to defend his most vital areas when he turned, hearing the whiz of a kunai through the air.

He struck the knife out of the sky only, to freeze in his tracks.

The previously frozen Shinobi were all now looking straight at him with glassy, unseeing eyes.

"Oh hell naw!"

* * *

Yugito grunted pushing herself free of the debris that had rained down around her. Wooden shrapnel and slivers falling off her body as she reached up to the crown of her bleeding scalp.

She stared at the hole, watching the two men walking through it.

"Wind and fire." She breathed, picking herself up. "Quite the combination you can pull off...and with no hand seals either."

The sickle shot out from the opening, a blur of red with metal cabling, three wickedly long blades falling to crash onto the area she'd been standing on with the weight of a maul.

"Damn. Though I guess its only right you could dodge that. If you couldn't that'd be pretty sad, I am the slowest of the Akatsuki after all."

The Anbu woman frowned. Either he was supremely confident in his other abilities to just blurt that out or he was an imbecile.

"Quiet Hidan." The beast of a man with the unnatural eyes snapped.

The two stepped out into the light of day, letting her see them in their full Akatsuki regalia.

She would have to hold back on the Nibi's chakra. These were two S class Shinobi. She would be hard pressed to defeat them within the time frame her body could safely withstand the Nibi's full might, if they were both fresh and able to avoid her attacks.

She'd have to take her chances fighting them as she was. If she could wither them down enough, then when she let the Nibi take over, it could take them both while they were tired and sloppy.

She'd definitely have to stay on her toes. One false move, and a crippling wound would be the _least_ of her worries.

She reached into her pouch, feeling the Shuriken in her hands.

Suddenly, the big one moved, hands slamming into the ground to erect an earth wall to his and Hidan's right, the wall of unyielding rock rising as the shout rang out through the ruins of the shrine.

"Dynamic Entry!"

The Great Breakthrough smashed into the wall with a crunching sound. Pure, hard _rock_ crumbling in the face of a gale force wind but ultimately holding strong as the attack finally died away.

Yugito turned to look only to see a white clad teenager staring down at them from one of the shrines nearby prayer altars.

He was frowning.

"Why does that work for Gai?"

She had no idea who he was, what he was doing here, or who Gai was. What she did know was that this idiot was gonna get himself killed!

She opened her mouth to speak when he turned his head, smiling and waving in her direction. "Hey miss two, good to see you."

Her thoughts ground to a halt.

No...there could not be someone else that spoke like that...It just...

There wasn't enough room in the world for two of them and her continued sanity!

"'The fuck are you?"Hidan barked, marching around the wall to get a good look at the boy.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Kakuzu answered. "C rank nuke-ninja from Konohagakure, bounty is at five thousand. Paid when he's brought in alive." He recited off of memory, taking one look at him. "Rather low for a Jinchuuriki."

Hidan frowned, turning to look at his partner with a single open eye. "Eh? This kid?"

Yugito gave a startled jerk.

Kakuzu nodded. "Konoha's Kyuubi"

"Isn't Itachi supposed to be handling him?"

"Oi I'm right here you know!" Naruto protested.

And was flatly ignored. "His loss is our gain." Kakuzu declared. "We get two for the price of one trip. Handle the Nibi. The Kyuubi is mine."

Naruto's features turned grim, as did Yugito's. their hunters were done with the pleasantries.

* * *

"For the love of god did they run or fly!?"

Hana couldn't help but agree. Bee and Naruto were moving at a ridiculous pace. They'd had an hour head start before they'd woken up in the restaurant and gotten their gear ready to track, but they'd easily managed to make that hour seem like half a day or something.

"They couldn't have flown." Omoi concluded, one hand rising to his chin. "Maybe they were ambushed, and the guys were so good they managed to beat Bee-sensei and Naruto-san before covering their tracks. And now we're walking right into the same trap. And we'll get slaughtered even worse with how strong Bee sensei is compared to-" He got solid smack to the back of his head from the irritated Karui.

"Would you stop going off like that!"

Hana snickered hearing Samui sigh in frustration.

Then, she stopped, a growl from one of her nin-ken warning her as she brought her hand up into a closed fist, the three Kumo nin stopping dead in their tracks. "Someone's up ahead."

"Bee-sensei?" Karui ventured.

She shook her head. "Nah, I'm not even sure...what exactly this is, it smells weird as hell."

"How do you know its a someone then?" Samui questioned.

"There is _some _human traces on it."

"Maybe its some wild man eating beast that no one's ever discovered before. Maybe its whatever got to Bee sensei and Naruto-san maybe it-" Another smack, this time from both Karui and _Samui._

"Eagle spread." The blond Jounin ordered, drawing her ninjato. The other two Kumo nin drawing their own blades. "Stay back Inuzuka-san you'll just get in the way."

She nodded. A well oiled team was best left to its own well known and practiced formations. Adding in her and her two ninken was a headache that would prove more a hindrance than a help.

The three Kumo nin snuck forward, with Hana following a ways behind them as they crept through the underbrush.

Her sharp ears could pick up the frustrated muttering of someone. Definitely human then. She couldn't make out the words though.

She did however, quite clearly hear Samui's sharp intake of breath.

A second later as she emulated her.

Tall as a mountain, blue skin, black cloak, red clouds, giant sword.

They were staring straight at one of the only widely known Akatsuki ninja. Hoshigake Kisame.

_'Fuck my life.' _She thought to herself.

The Nuke nin was glaring at a piece of paper in his hand, sneering. She didn't see what it was but it must have been something big to be frustrating him like this. She heard from others that Kisame was usually smiling no matter what the circumstance.

She shifted, watching as Samui gestured for her teammates to sneak into flanking positions.

Then Kisame turned and looked right at them.

The four (six if counting dogs) froze, their hearts leaping into their throats as the Nuke-nin's beady little eyes fixed themselves on them.

"Hey." The man growled. "Where the hell is Mazayaku resort town!?"

Hana blinked utterly stupefied.

"Did we..." She ventured, no point in keeping quiet if he already knew they were there. "Stumble on an S class Nuke-nin as he's going on _holiday_?"

"I didn't even know they had holidays." Karui offered.

"Make me ask again." The blue skinned man growled. "And one of you looses an arm."

Omoi's hand peeked out from behind his bush, finger pointing north west. "Bout eight more miles?"

"Thanks." The monster of Kiri grumbled before turning and marching off.

The four remained dumbstruck for several moments before Karui pulled herself out of her stuppor. "You idiot!" She hissed. "That's where Bee sensei went! He's probably hunting him and Yugito-sempai

"I know." He answered. "Now we can fight him with sensei's help!"

"Thats-" She paused. "-not a bad idea actually."

The dark skinned teenager nodded. "Yeah. I mean Kisame's an S class bad ass if we would have tried to fight him he would have killed us...or taken us hostage. Then he would have used us to lure out Bee sensei. Then A-sama would have come out of Kumo and then-" A hand was stuffed against his mouth.

"Keep quiet." Karui urged, eyebrow twitching. "You sound better that way."

"If you two are done!" Samui snapped. "Follow him! And hope Bee-sensei doesn't have his hands full already."

* * *

He ducked behind a tree, a rush of fire breaking over it before he leapt up, just barely dodging a jutting earth spike that ripped through the wooden barrier a second after.

Landing on it with a crouch the blond smirked as he heard Kakuzu's annoyed grunt.

"You remind me of Tobi." The Taki nin groused. "His best skill is running away."

"Then he'll live longer than both of us!" Naruto snickered.

The ground beneath the earth spike he was standing on exploded, hands whipping out from under rock and dirt to grab onto Naruto's wrists.

"Longer than you!" Kakuzu agreed before he thrust his sleeve forward, black tendrils emerging to link and merge with the tendrils controling the hands on Naruto's wrist, reeling the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki in.

The Nuke-nin frowned. "Kai!"

The Genjutsu dispelled revealing that he was only gripping a piece of the fallen tree before a chain chain wrapped firmly around his throat.

He gripped at the length of metal links, grunting as he turned to look at the blond haired boy, pulling on the thing.

"This weapon." He hissed, eyes narrowing. "I hunted this bastard down before!"

"Yeah." Naruto confirmed with a smirk. "He told me all about you."

"No wonder you're so slippery. The Ghost of Iwagakure..." The Akatsuki nin muttered.

Naruto's smirk widened, channeling wind chakra into the length of chain before he yanked. Hard.

Kakuzu's head separated from his shoulders...it wasn't cut...the black, cable thick tendrils that formed his body literally pushed his head up, off his shoulders almost a foot into the air, let Naruto's wind chain slip between the now empty space and pulled the head right back into its proper place.

Naruto blinked. "So that's what he meant when he said '_Bullshit dodge_'"

Then Both Kakuzu's hands rose, fire and wind combining to create a blazing inferno that looked to swallow everything infront of it.

The Nuke nin snapped his gaze up, watching as the boy leapt over the onrush of flames, the jump was so high there must have been wind manipulation involved. He brought his hands up to attack again.

Then the wind blade came from below the Taki nin.

Kakuzu took it full in the chest.

He gasped, the breath leaving his lungs as he glared at the blond haired ninja now emerging from the floor at his feet, sword still firmly lodged in his chest.

The Taki nin snarled. _Bloody Genjutsu!_

Naruto pulled the blade out, smirking as Kakuzu fell to his knees before turning to run back to where he could still hear Yugito's battle with Hidan.

Then an arm was around his neck, cutting off his air in a half second.

Kakuzu's raw power was monstrous, Naruto tried to pull his limb open only to feel like he was trying to move a concrete covered block.

Then one hand was moving, barely blocking the kunai thrust that sought to drive the diamond shape knife into his gut. His chakra enhanced strength quickly succumbing to whatever brute power Kakuzu had going for him.

"Your master never saw this trick though did he!?"

Naruto answered by using his free hand, channeling wind Chakra into his weapon before whipping out the chain, the deadly bladed whip moving to carve Kakuzu's back open.

The nuke nin kicked him off, the harsh stomp of his booted foot on the blond's back driving the air from his lungs and nearly snapping a rib.

He rolled, regaining his feet in time to see a rush of boiling hot steam rushing towards him. That fog would scald the skin off his bones.

He pulled the chakra chain back to him, using the wind element to manipulate the length of metal links. It coiled around him, round and round before he gripped it by the pointed end, driving it into the open end of the weapon hilt.

Then the chains started spinning.

Like a belt on a motor; the chain, glowing with high concentrations of wind chakra spun round and round, entering one end of the hilt and shooting out the other as the chakra formed a wind barrier around him.

Kakuzu frowned, watching the steam disperse before he launched another massive fireball at the Jinchuuriki.

The power seemed to grow, from a gust into a storm, and then a typhoon, the trees bending back, away from it as fire was swept up in the gale force winds.

Then, Kakuzu was forced to duck aside as the technique ended, with Naruto whipping the _flaming _chain out, up, over his head to smash it down where the Taki nin had been standing. An explosion pelted the older man with dirt, rock and bits of wood before the flame died away.

He landed, glaring at the panting blond.

Naruto for his part just grinned all the wider. "I couldn't just let Gaara and Neji have dibs on it!" He exclaimed with a breathless laugh.

"An Ultimate defense." The experienced nin surmized. "By spinning so much Wind Chakra no matter what they throw at you it'll either get shredded to bits or carried away if its something more insubstancial like fire or water.. You've even turned fire into a one shot weapon, combining both it and your wind element in the chain to attack when you drop the defense."

Naruto grinned. "Damn, you're good! Got all that in one."

"_I also figured out its weakness."_ The Akatsuki nin thought, knowing that no technique was without its own fatal flaw, save perhaps the legendary _Hiraishin no Jutsu _of the Yondaime Hokage_._ '_Takes too long to set up and tear down. Anyone gets in striking distance when he's doing either and he's wide open.'_

Now he just had to get him to use it again and capitalize on it.

* * *

Bee's elbow came down on the poor man's head with an audible thunk. His body going limp as he fell unconscious to the floor.

"Sorry my man! This was not part of the plan!"

He kicked another woman in the side of the head, backhanding another poor sod in the face in the same motion.

"_Gyuuki what do I do? Soon he'll be sendin the whole village for us two!"_

"_**I'm thinking!" **_The Ox barked. The villagers weren't particularly strong or skilled, they stumbled towards him and only vaguely swiped. Either Itachi had not mastered this power, whatever it was, or he was just looking to get Bee tired, or warmed up. Problem was that every second they wasted here, without finding him was another second he could be going after Naruto, or Yugito, or setting up a trap for when they were finished.

Finally, the old ox had a plan.

_**Gimme some room to move around Bee. **_With a thought, the tight control he held over the beast fell away a bit, laxing in its grip as the Hachibi's chakra surged through him, escaping in three quick pulses around Bee's body.

The first made them stumble, the second cleared their vision and the third knocked them flat on their backs, the mass of people groaning in pain.

"_What'd you do?"_

"_**I pushed my Chakra into them." **_He answered. **_"First shockwave to find the Tenketsu, second to force it open, third to slip in through the Chakra gates. Since they weren't using their chakra it was easy. They're poisoned now though. They need doctors but it'll keep them off your back for a while...unless the Uchiha can just bypass what I did."_**

_"How?"_

"_**That eye can control Bijuu if the wielder is strong enough. Might be he can just slip past the effects of my chakra to make them keep fighting despite the poison."**_

"_What!? Are you tellin me, that this eye can see through Genjutsu, capture others in genjutsu, helps with Taijutsu, copies ninjutsu **and** can put down the big Bijuu?"_

"_**Yes."**_

Bee blinked. "Huh...well that's some bull shi-"

The world vanished warping and distorting into an unholy red. The bodies at his feet vanishing, the buildings of stone and wood replaced by raven black feathers that cascaded down to the ground.

Bee flickered his chakra, alternating its flow through his body.

"_**Bee!" **_

He turned back surprised at finding the massive, towering Gyuuki lumbering up behind him. "Eighto?"

"_**He's caught us both!" **_The Ox said _**"He was waiting for what we did. When we opened up our Tenketsu he slipped his Genjutsu into both our Chakras. Don't worry though! This isn't the cursed Tsukiyomi. Though whatever it is is based on it."**_

"Very astute."

Bee turned at the sound of the voice, finding Itachi sitting on a stone chair, legs crossed, hands laced together infront of his lips.

The Uchiha blinked languidly eyeing the Hachibi and its host.

His mind passed through the most effective means of disabling the two. The longer they remained, the more Chakra he wasted. And the more likely they could escape.

He prepared himself to bring the full power of his self made illusion down on the two when, at that exact moment he felt something, a tugging at his mind.

He would have sighed in aggravation were it in him to do so.

A piece of him left. A piece of him remained behind.

Blinking languidly as black and red was replaced by endless white, the stone chair vanishedfrom beneath him as he stood to his full height.

The world blurred and changed, shifting in this perception of time and space before he found himself staring at the surprised visage of the young Uchiha Sasuke.

"Sasuke." He greeted, eyes traveling down towards the thin scroll in his brothers hand.

Smart enough to open one of his seals then...better. He swiveled his gaze back up towards his enraged sibling. Sharingan meeting Sharingan.

Even with his famous indifference he couldn't help but comment...

"You have the most _interesting _timing little brother."

The boy's chakra flared, even in the illusionary world, searching to form a technique to run him through.

The eldest waved a lazy hand and chains were suddenly coiled around his brothers wrists, tied to a chair that reeled him in, forcing him to sit.

"Seals are amazing things." He commented, stepping closer before another chair formed so he could sit comfortably across from Sasuke. The world of white morphed and vanished, the endless blank replaced by vibrant colors until they found themselves sitting in none other than their father's very own study back in the Hyuuga main house in Konoha. "Even my genjutsu can be bolstered. Bending the laws of reality and illusion to its breaking point with some application. Its no wonder the Uzumaki were so very feared. Even the Mangekyo would have trouble breaking through this now."

Sasuke froze, eyes darting this way and that way to take in his surroundings before righting himself and glaring at Itachi with all the hatred he could muster from across their father's desk.

The eldest of the two siblings leaned back on his father's old seat. Resting comfortably.

He took a deep, languid breath, and suddenly, the weight finally settling off of his shoulders in some small way.

"Let us speak then Sasuke..." He sighed. Eyes closing placidly.

Opening them again he met his brother's hateful stare. "Let us open up these closed doors. Let loose...all these old ghosts...There are just...too many secrets."

He sighed and many would say he _aged_ for that brief moment. "Too many secrets..."

* * *

Yes, I know I'm an ass.

Yes, Itachi will be giving you readers some tangible answers to the picture in the next chapter.

Now there's something important that I must tell you about my readers.

This story is gonna be a trilogy. So soon (not in the next chapter of course but soon) this first part will be ending and its sequel will be posted.

The reason for this is threefold.

1) I don't want to have another beastly monster of a fic like Lost Soul. (Not that this piece will be nearly so long. At least I'm not planning it as such)

2) There are a lot of people complaining that they can't leave reviews on this fic because all the previous chapters were deleted and now their old reviews are "blocking" them from reviewing again.

And 3) There are two other projects I want to finish.

Three fics and school is too much to juggle adequately. People have complained that the lagging updates makes them forget plot points and such and have to go back and re-read and makes it thus, difficult for them to keep interes in the fic.

So my solution is simple. Finish all three of them one at a time.

This story, being the closest to the cut off point before the second installment will be what I'll focus on right now. I suspect that if everything goes according to plan my other fic "Souls of Heroes" can be finished in 10 chapters. Maybe less even.

The sequel of Shikon is the only one that's still missing quite a chunk of content. So that'll take the longest. But 20 to 25 aditional chapters I think will be what's needed to wrap it up. Focusing solely on that project will shorten the update times considerably.

What this means for this particular story is that its sequel will not be posted for quite some time. Though, when it does kick up again the updates will come more frequently, smoother and more easily allow me to juggle my life and my hobby. When it is posted, the most I'll be working on is 1 other work. Either the sequel to Shikon or another piece I've got running around in my head. (Here's a hint it involves time travel) Two stories are manageable. Three just aren't. It was why my old fics, Strength of brothers and Twist of fate were just flat out dropped because I couldn't keep up the juggle. I don't want that to happen here. I wan't to finish all of my works. For that to happen this has to be done.

To any and all those that might disagree or agree with this, if you can't reach me via reviews for the aforementioned reason #2 you can reach me by PM to voice your agreement or disagreement if it means that much to you.

At any rate, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, the next one will be out soon.


	26. The rescue

With a toss Kakuzu flung off his Akatsuki cloak glaring at the Jinchuuriki. "You got me once kid. That won't be happening again."

Naruto grinned. "Not sure how the hell you're still standing...but I'll put you down permanently soon."

Kakuzu's body hunched, the stitches on his back coming undone like the wet seams of a book binding before the skin opened up like some macabre bloom.

Naruto rushed forward, the blade extending to its pole-arm form as he thrust it forward, the extra reach letting him strike faster.

Then Kakuzu was ducking, the razor thin edge barely nicking a few of the black coils sprouting from his back before he stepped forward, into the follow up swing. The hardened flesh of his darkened skin clanging off of the metal surface as he reached forward to grab the Jinchuuriki.

Naruto's body burst into smoke, reforming beside the man, the weapon still in his hand pressed against Kakuzu's arm, a single wind coated kunai rushing towards the man's temple.

The nuke nin made to move before his whole body seized, the chakra fluctuating in reflex only to see three chains coiled around his neck and shoulders, holding him still, avoiding his back where their presence would have been noticed.

As the kunai came closer to its intended target a porcelain mask sprouted from the man's back, a jet of water sprouting from its nozzled lips to push the kunai away, a whitewash of water shoving Naruto away.

With another, stronger surge of chakra he dispelled the chain genjutsu around his limbs, once more moving freely as his hands came together in seals as he turned towards the drenched Jinchuuriki

"_**Katon: Zukokku!"**_

The flood was soon replaced by a wall of surging fire, an orange flare charging towards the Uzumaki.

The green eyed nuke-nin's eyes narrowed, ready to see the boy's ultimate defense come into play once again and seize on the opportunity.

To his surprise he saw the boy form the handseals for a Fuuton technique!

"_**Fuuton: Daitoppa!"**_

Naruto shouted.

Then the whole temple was swallowed by fire.

* * *

The first few minutes were, to be honest quite unnerving.

That luster quickly wore off after he realized absolutely nothing was happening.

It returned briefly when he spoke to the stoic Uchiha. "Yo fool, just sittin there aint cool! At least give me a stool!"

Itachi had complied; immediately conjuring up a stone chair for him to sit.

"Be silent." The red eyed man drawled and then continued to stare off into space.

Bee looked at Gyuuki, with his Bijuu looking just as confused as he was for once.

* * *

Naruto made his way through the broken shingles and shadowed ruins of the temple smoke and dark shadows giving him ample hiding choices. Kakuzu was not too far away, standing with two black blobs. The dark, vein like tendrils whipping out of his back as his strange green eyes looked through the flames..

The Uzumaki growled somewhere low in his throat.

There was no doubt as to why Kakuzu was considered an S rank.

If the man wasn't holding back, trying to take him in alive Naruto had few doubts that he'd probably be a lot worse off than what he was.

All five elements. Everything Naruto had learned from his books said that such a thing was impossible. The body was naturally drawn to one or two over the others either because of their blood their upbringing their desires their psyches. Anything. You could no more have all five elements than have five different personalities.

So either all of his books were wrong, Kakuzu was crazy and had multiple persona disorders or this bastard was _cheating!_

The blond scowled, trying to think as he listened for Kakuzu's footsteps.

For the Akatsuki himself, he was irritated. He'd lost his Lightning heart. Strong ones weren't exactly easy to overpower. Getting a replacement would be tricky. He would have opted for water if he wasn't fighting a wind user.

Still he was not worried. Having fought the ghost of Iwa before he knew the man's tricks. So he could suspect the venue this kid would be trying. Hit and run primarily.

And he didn't have the art of stealth so perfectly mastered as Cyrus did yet.

With a thought, tendrils of black exploded out of the ground, the earth heart rising up from the earth like a legendary kraken to swallow a ship. Kakuzu heard the snap of wood before he saw Naruto's empty white coat caught in the viny embrace of the rising heart...

He also saw the exploding tags burning on the cloth.

_'Shit!'_

An explosion ripped the heart to pieces, the shattered mask clattering across the ground as the black tendrils formed into too much goop, melting into the soil like ink stains.

The man snarled.

_Too careless! _If he could literally kick himself, he would have. _Never underestimate an enemy! _It was the one rule that got Shinobi killed the _second _they disregarded it.

He felt the sharp spike of chakra, a charge through the air warning him.

"_**Fuuton: Daitoppa!"**_

The Great Breakthrough that had spread the flames through half the temple now swept forward like a rushing tide, picking up and carrying the fires caused by his own attack into an inferno with the rushing heat of a furnace.

He formed his own handseals, creating his own great Breakthrough as the Fire heart spat out three roaring fire dragons, the non-corporeal beasts rushed forward smashing into the onrushing wall driving it back as their bodies joined the indistinguishable mass of flames and wind.

He felt another spike of chakra, and then another before hearing multiple voices through the fire wall.

"_**Fuuton: Daitoppa!"**_

This time the fire was at the height and breadth of a city wall, fully overpowering anything he could have hoped to bring out to drive it back.

The water heart jumped infront spitting out a glob of swirling water to form a thick wall that beginning to take shape into that of a dome around him and his fire heart.

Then, he felt another spike of Chakra, and his heart sank, turning right around to see the grinning blond just before the wind technique smashed into them like the breath of an angry god.

His feet stuck to the ground with Chakra, the black coils spearing themselves into the dirt to keep his two hearts tethered to the earth.

The dome of water fell around them, the technique disrupted before it could fully form and Kakuzu was left staring down a fiery hell.

* * *

Itachi sighed taking a deep breath as he stared at his brother. "I can imagine your first question...though perhaps it'd be better for you to actually say it little brother."

Sasuke glared, chained and bound as he was, he stubbornly tried to keep a hold of his silence.

It was an effort doomed to failure from the very beginning.

For the better part of his life...he'd wondered, asked himself these questions, played out the answers, the event, over and over in his imagination.

And now, here he was...with the offer staring him in the face to receive a final answer to all these questions.

"Why did you kill them all Itachi?"

* * *

It had been a long time since Kakuzu had felt _agony_.

Pain was no stranger to Shinobi. It followed them like a stalker. Ready at a moments notice.

But _agony_ was a whole different monster.

He gasped, choking on hot ash as his _seared _flesh fell off his hands as he picked himself up. Throwing off his mask, black gunk fell out of his mouth to splatter over the ground.

"_Four!" _He would have gasped if he had air in his lungs to do so. _'Four hearts!? To a Kid?'_

He moved to stand, his skin raw. He got two steps before stumbling, falling onto his knees with a wet cough more black ooze seeping from his stitches.

He looked up as a shadow fell over him glaring into the smirking Naruto.

The Uzumaki's smile was bright as ever, ignoring the gruesome sight of the S rank ninja's burnt body.

"Damn." He whistled. "That just messed you up huh?"

He thrust his hand forward, the fingers that would have shot out like a crossbow bolt flopped uselessly to the ground. The black coils melting off.

The blond raised his blade, the wind sword whistling before he swung.

* * *

Itachi's eyebrow raised, watching as Kakuzu's lifeless body hit the floor.

In brute force the boy could easily overpower many ninja, even some S rank, his genjutsu skill and timing was adequate to his observation but his imagination in execution were lacking. Whoever trained him had trained the skill as a suplement to his kenjutsu, which seemed to be, with his chosen weapon fairly high.

All round he could perhaps pass as an A rank. Kakuzu had lost two hearts to underestimation more than anything else. Too focused on the Bingo book rankings and the general skills of other Jinchuuriki which tended to be B rank at best. The best tactic at beating Jinchuuriki was stalling. Once they drew on the power of their Bijuu all they had was a set amount of time.

Kakuzu had been looking to conserve his energy and not use many of his more punishing jutsu, or in the alternative force Naruto to using that 'ultimate defense' for an easy opening. By the time the Akatsuki's treasurer realized he had to get serious in the fight without the Kyuubi's chakra cloak it had been too late and the power struggle between the ancient and a boy with more Chakra than half a village held only one obvious outcome.

However much of this victory had been on blind luck he'd have to complement Kushina's choice of tutor. Three years from C rank Gennin to A rank nuke-nin was no small feat. Especially when teaching the field of genjutsu to a Jinchuuriki.

His red eyes looked further into the ruined landscape as he caught movement only to see Hidan crawl out of the woodwork, the Kumo kunoichi slung over his shoulder.

* * *

"Hey Kakuzu!" The silver haired Akatsuki shouted.

"What do you want?"

The familiar growl of his partners voice cut through the smoke, with the massive frame stalking out of the black smoke and heat distortions. Green eyes glaring at the figure on Hidan's shoulder. "Got her then?"

"Heh." Hidan smirked. "Dumb bitch got herself cut real good. Jashin was pleased today. Where's yours?"

Pointing over his thumb he answered before holding his hand out. "Give her here."

The cultist shrugged, tossing Yugito with a careless flick of his hand. "You really had to level the place?"

Before his hand fully retracted though, it was cut clean off at the elbow.

He jumped back, shouting in shocked surprise.

"What the Fuck!" He shouted, the sudden pain dispelling the illusion to reveal the glaring Naruto holding Yugito, the clinks of the chain as it retracted back into its place coming clear to his ears.

Naruto set the girl down, blue eyes glinting like knives. "Looks like I get to cash in on two Akatsuki today!"

Hidan scoffed. Moving his arm for emphasis. "Don't get cocky brat! Its just a scratch."

Naruto's eyes widened "A _scratch?_" He echoed incredulously. "Your arms gone!"

The cultist looked down at his stump before glaring back at him. This was actually bad. Kakuzu was a tough son of a bitch. If this brat took him down without even looking winded...still all he needed was one scratch. "I've had worse!"

Naruto frowned. "Seeing as how you're not missing any other limbs I'll call bullshit."

"And I'll call you dead!" The man howled, raising his scythe to swing with the length of metal cable before Naruto moved, dodging the heavy, three bladed weapon before rushing right at him.

Hidan pulled, the three pieced blade rushing back to strike at the blond only for the weapon to pass straight through him with no resistance whatsoever. The Akatsuki's eyes widened, barely raising his arm to properly catch the thrown blade in his surprise that there was no target there.

He fluctuated his chakra forcing the illusion to dispell again before he felt ten more fall over him one after the other. Obvious intrusions meant to only stall for a second or so.

So he moved jumping up into the air to avoid whatever blow was incoming before his head fell clean off his shoulders rolling onto the ground as his body flopped, loosing whatever power it had with the lack of orders from the brain.

The invisible Naruto appeared a moment later, fading into the world as though the wind had just covered him up for a moment before peeling back. The chain was pulled back, untying the hoop he'd coiled the oblivious Hidan's neck with. The wind Chakra vanishing from sight as the links fully disappeared into his weapon.

The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki gave no more thought to the man before moving straight towards the unconscious Yugito. "Oh man I hope you're ok." He worried. Even knowing Akatsuki needed them alive, he knew very well that alive didn't necesarilly mean in good condition. Kakuzu had been _alive _after that fire attack.

The blond moved to pick her up, hands sliding under her shoulders and knees. "Come on lets get you out of-YOW!"

He jumped a foot into the air, hopping with Yugito in his arms as he turned to look at his Achilles tendon where he'd been bitten, blinking, stupefied at it.

He looked up only to leave himself gaping like a slow fish.

"Get over here you yellow haired bastard and take what's coming to ya! I'll bite your legs off!" Hidan shouted, face resting on his cheek, wiggling his head around what remained of the stump of his neck to awkwardly seesaw/roll his way closer.

"Yo!" Bee's shout brought his eyes up finding the dark skinned man a second before he landed six of his seven swords held at the ready

"Bee? Where's Itachi?"

"Don know my man! Ol red eyes canned me in a world before puttin' up a ban! Lettin me scram!"

The blond frowned. "He just...stalled you?"

The man nodded.

The frown that graced the blond's face was more pronounced. "That's...good?" He shrugged. "Either way, miss two looks like she's in bad shape Bee!"

The Hachibi Jinchuuriki looked grim for once, holding out his arms, letting Naruto pass her into them. "Miss two's alive though. So matter what she'll push on through."

There was a crunch of feet over gravel and both Naruto and Bee turned to see a familiar red cloud pattern cloak.

"Well you seem to have taken care of business here." Kisame chuckled, reaching up to place a heavy hand against the hilt of his massive greatsword.

"Kisame! Bring that little shit over here!" The angry head of Hidan shouted.

Six more shadows soon rushed their way through the rubble to reveal Omoi, Karui, Samui Hana and her two Nin-ken all with weapons at the ready as they surrounded the blue skinned Akatsuki.

The shark man smiled.

* * *

The question hung between them like a pendulum.

Such a short simple query.

_Why?_

So simple...

A deep breath a slow exhale.

"Because they needed to die..."

"Why?" His little brother hisses demanding clarification.

He sighs.

"Have you ever wondered...how it is this all began?"

"How what began?"

"The villages." He offered. "Our history before all of this was merely inter clan warfare. Whole swathes of land with their petty lords and clan heads squabbling and butchering. How is it exactly that Hashirama Senjuu was able to bring all of these people together form his village and then, have that event, almost simultaneously followed by four others, like a clockwork mechanism..."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Sasuke growled.

"We'll get to that." He assured. "Have you wondered in turn how it is that Senjuu could have died?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to speak when the youth suddenly realized the answer eluded him.

"That's right." Itachi said, leaning back in the illusionary chair of their father. "You don't know. A man revered for founding the Shinobi system as we know it today, hailed throughout the world as perhaps one of, if not _the_ strongest Shinobi to ever live and yet they never told you in the academy _how he died_. Not even in general terms."

Sasuke stayed quiet.

"Everyone always assumes he died in battle but who could have defeated him? None of the other Shodaime could have, there were no invasions, he'd just brokered a peace treaty between the five when he offered them each a Bijuu. So...who did it?"

Another deep breath, another slow exhale.

"Another question for you little brother. Has it ever been established _why _precisely our ancestor, Uchiha Madara betrayed the Shodaime in the first place, battling him in what is now known as the valley of the end."

"You know it wasn't..." Sasuke hissed, now straining at his bonds as impatience clawed at him.

"Hmm...a rather important omission wouldn't you agree? Especially after all records establish that Madara greatly contributed to the foundation of the village itself. Why would he seek its destruction? The wars were over, he'd willingly helped _form _the villages long after Tobirama killed his brother so that shouldn't have been a factor. Why did he betray after working so very hard?"

The elder brother leaned forward, the desk between them vanishing, its illusion dispelled as he stared into Sasuke's spinning red eyes.

"I work for an organization, not the obvious one of course, that has existed since before the founding of the five villages. Our previous history had us recruiting from the various clans throughout the wold, taking in their best and brightest in order to learn as much as possible of the Shinobi arts, and the mutations brought onto us humans because of it."

"Your point?"

"Madara was recruited into the organization that opposes ours, another group of people very good at what they do. Each group has one single objective, the one that first brought them together. I can't tell you what it is because I don't rightly know what exactly that _original_ goal was. That's only known to our leader and many times I suspect...whatever that goal is...its still being pursued. I can only talk to you in inference to the secondary objective that developed _after _the villages founding."

"Your _point_." His brother stressed, he'd sooner rip out Itachi's voicebox than prefer sitting here listening to him prattle on about some club he'd joined.

"The goal I, and many others that join the organization today have is simple. We work to preserve the hidden villages themselves. The stability they provide is important for various reasons. Its why after Hashirama's first founding they immediately moved to take these ideas to other lands. Since we'd recruited so many from so many diverse areas it was easy to sell the idea to influential clan heads of the regions. Pushing to form the other four villages. Which is why we see each one crop up with barely a years time between them."

"The villages are important..._gee_." Sasuke drawled. "Are there any other secrets of the world you'd like to share."

"Not only for the general population and every day civilians and Shinobi..." He continued, ignoring Sasuke's sarcasm. "But also of particular importance to the original goal, whatever that might be or is.

"You expect me to believe...that you actually work for people and you don't even know what the hell you're working for?"

The Uchiha shrugged. "You should." He affirmed. "Whatever the original goal is, or _was_ is irrelevant to me. My side wishes to preserve a stable method of government the other side wishes to return us to a state of constant, unremitting war. Dual objectives on a mission are not unusual, neither are orders sealed to be opened on the event of a met condition. This is little different...only more long term. Haven't you ever wondered how it is disaster after disaster keeps appearing and is subsequently _removed. _How it is seemingly inexplicable events keep occuring. How was it that each seal for the Hachibi in Kumogakure was continually compromised, how it is that the Nidaime Mizu and Tsuchikage even mannaged to find eachother for a one on one confrontation when their villages on the other side of the continent. How they mannaged to conveniently deliver killing blows to the other. How it is that all seven swordsmen betray Kiri in the same generation. All taking their swords with them with the hunter nin only able to recover one? How it is that Konoha, against all odds was able to stay standing in the third war long enough for Namikaze to turn the tide, even though they were besset, by all _**four**_ major villages."

"Kiri never attacked. And Kumo only made a push late in the war.

"Never openly. Perhaps you should ask Hatake-san some time on what really happened involving Kiri. And why exactly did Kumo delay? How precisely, even after all the manpower wasted was Konoha able to amass an army that eventually took the life of the Sandaime Raikage. Where was his own military might? So late in the war that it was not at greater strength and numbers than what should have been Konoha's weakened forces. How were they able to amass an army so quickly and so secret?"

The Uchiha paused, smirking. "Did you think it all to be...happy serendipity little brother?"

Sasuke's lip curled. "And the clan?"

Another deep breath, another slow exhale.

"As you can, hopefully, deduce our enemies do try to bring down the hidden villages. Their goals are in direct oposition. They tried this the first time killing Hashirama Senjuu. They'd hoped his death would destabilize the government enough for it to fall. They weren't expecting his brother Tobirama to fill his shoes so quickly, or for Sarutobi to rise to such acclaim he would be declared the _"God of Shinobi"_ After Tobirama was killed. They've tried various ways since then. Though Senjuu's ideas had some merit he's built a very delicate house of cards in this system."

"How is that?"

Itachi held up one finger.

"That's all it would take. Should one village fall, the power vacuum would be immense. It would bring the whole thing crashing down."

"That is complete-"

"_Think_ for a moment..." Itachi hissed. "Do you expect it would just be split _evenly_ between territories, clients, trade, _power?_ No. One or two villages would gain major advantages over the others. More money, less money, more men, more territory, their Jinchuuriki even...And once one gets an advantage the balance set by Hashirama when he willingly gave away the Bijuu he held _precisely _to avoid a schism of too much power in too few hands, is broken and then its just a matter of watching the whole thing crumble to dust as the world implodes in on itself and reverts to what it once was.

The Uchiha clan destroyer leaned forward hovering just a few inches away from the young man's face. "Hashirama was killed by them. Madara was turned by them. Other plots and schemes in other countries were too numerous to count. Each one foiled by either blind luck or perhaps one of our agents They'd been searching for weaknesses. Then they turned back to Konoha a decade ago."

Sasuke's hate filled eyes narrowed.

"Same as they turned Madara against the Sho...they now decided to see if they could do it again...just do it on a larger scale."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

The man breathed through his nostrils.

"Our father was tempted by a deal. He was thus, planning a coup. One that with the backing of this agency would help him eliminate Sarutobi...So...I killed them all."

"To avoid them killing a single old man...you-" If Sasuke could fire the Amaterasu Itachi had little doubt he would.

I didn't stop them from killing '_one old man.'_." The Uchiha leaned back. "I stopped them from destroying the village."

"It wouldn't have happened! You killed them all on your _**assumption**_!"

"It would have. Once the Uchiha rebelled, it would have been open war, the village would have turned against them, civil war in Hi no Kuni. Soon enough it would have devolved into a free for all. Eventually they would have dragged young Uzumaki to a side hoping to use him.

"They wouldn't have done it and you killed them all just because you thought they _might _have. If your supposed _enemy _is as influential and as strong as you say then why didn't they just kill the old bastard outright?"

"Because then it would have implicated another village...not incited civil war. The posturing would have been made. Perhaps even a battle but soon a treaty would be signed and all would return to normal. And the house of cards would have remained standing."

"So you butchered them all?'

"I believe that's been rather established-" Itachi drawled, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "-yes..."

"And what part does Orochimaru even play in all of this?"

"He and Hiruzen were the first to introduce me into this organization. I was...twelve at the time. Just made Captain I believe. They wanted the best...so they went out and got the best..."

Suddenly Itachi's image began to fade out. The Uchiha resting on is father's chair stared at his own hand. "Ahh...it seems we're out of time then little brother..."

Before Sasuke could say another word, Itachi faded away, like a blindingly white cloud swept forward and swallowed him up.

He blinked.

And he was in his chambers, staring at the fading teardrop seal.

* * *

"Kisame" The Uchiha drawled stepping out as if from nowhere, Naruto, Bee and Yugito between him and his blue skinned partner. Both Jinchuuriki whirled back around, weapons at the ready. "The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki is mine. I'm sure you can keep the others occupied long enough."

"Thought you'd never ask!" He declared with a bark of laughter, drawing Samaheda from his back as he threw a large jagged smile to all the ninja still standing around him.

With a surge of water a sheer wall exploded up from the ground, cutting Naruto off from the rest of the group. The blond pulled back from the surging tide, the droplets of water that specked him were scalding hot. Boiling hot.

Turning to face Itachi the blond nuke nin grit his teeth as the Uchiha stretched out his neck with a crack and a roll of his shoulders.

The red eyes of the Sharingan stared a hole into him. "Because of their own innate carelessness you've beaten two today Uzumaki."

"Gonna make me go for three?" Naruto smirked.

He criminal ignored the statement the three tomoe morphing into a single shuriken pattern. "Lets us see how strong you really are then."

* * *

I'm kinda getting a sense of Deja-vu with Kisame facing down a multitude of enemies in the ruins of a village :p

At any rate, even though Itachi didn't explain _everything, _I hope a big part of the picture has become clearer. I'm not going to ignore the "_original_" goal that will play a part later _but_ I didn't think it to be something that should be revealed to Sasuke, who is at best a tertiary character at this point.

There are a lot of things in cannon that make little to no sense once taken under scrutiny. Granted, Kishimoto, isn't exactly someone I hold up to a quill award standard but regardless, though a lot of the things in cannon will be making some appearance or be held to some reference here a lot more wont. Mainly because I don't like them.

The history of the Nidaime from what I've heard just raped established lore, Senjuu and Madara are practically Bijuu-less monsters Obito's acts and survivability/jutsu repertoir is little short of Godhand come on down from the author.

So while _some_ things will be integrated a lot more will not be. Obito will not be pulling off landscape destroying techniques like he's popping tic-tacs. This guy will be strong but not DBZ level overpowered like he's become in cannon.

So going by scale from 1 to 12

* * *

**12**:

Madara, Senjuu

**11**

Pein, Obito

**10**

Tobirama, Sakumo

**9**

Itachi, Kisame, The Sannin, Kirabee

**8**

Cyrus, Kakashi

**7**

Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura

**6**

Hana, Kiba, Ino, Hinata (most of the rookie nine)

**5**

Chuunin (average)

**4**

Konohamaru

**3**

Gennin

**2**

**1**

Academy Student

**?**Kushina, Minato, '_The Dog_', Tadakatsu, Tezai.**?**

* * *

That would generally be the power scaling. As opposed to cannon where everyone else is a 10 at best and you've got five people that are at 30 or so.

There's a difference between making a character powerful and just making him retarded, able to curbstomp everyone established by cannon to be extremely strong in their own right. This isn't Lord of the Rings where the magic of the gods was fading from the world. Chakra is as potent/accessible during the Godaime age as it was in the Shodaime age. Such a sharp incline in strength of barely two generations (one if we're counting the sannin) isn't really justified especially when the wars that defined the pre village era, while not as constant are still no less bloody or lengthy (when they do occur)

Anyway I hope you enjoyed it Read and review.


	27. The Genjutsu Master

The monster of Kiri turned, all pointed teeth and leering eyes as Bee formed up beside his students, the three of them drawing their blades as Bee held Yugito.

Hana came close, hands glowing with green healing chakra. She was not the best with humans, but something had to be better than nothing.

"My pupils will be brutal. Their skills will kill and we'll dine on shark spine!"

"Hehehehe." The Nuke nin smirked ignoring the jab at his ancestry. "I've heard stories about your strength Hachibi. Maybe you'll prove stronger than the Gobi, or the Rokubi" He smiled. "Or the Nibi. I mean honestly...loosing to that blood fetish freak."

"Hey!" Hidan's severed head shouted from where it lay on the ground.

Bee's visage darkened. This man had already taken down two Jinchuuriki. And the Gobi was an experienced ninja that had fought in the third war! The man was no pushover.

"Miss Pups take miss two and get her out of her back on the ups!" He requested, handing Yugito to Hana, freeing his hands to draw all seven swords taking up his stance shoulder to shoulder with his students.

Six exact replicas of the massive Nuke-nin marched out of the surging wall of boiling water behind him, three at each side of the man.

"I'll take it easy for now, lets see how well you little shits manage this!"

The six clones charged, all of them drawing their replicas of Samaheda as they attacked. Immediately two moved to Bee and three more squared off against each of his students as they spread out, the last of them moving to attack Hana and the downed Yugito!

The vet ninja's two remaining dogs barked and growled, wheeling around the two girls to charge at the approaching threat.

Just as Bee finished dispatching the two of his with deft skill, he turned to attack the Monster of Kiri when four more clones emerged at Kisame's side, all four attacking him before another two formed and went to attack Samui, intercepting her before she could help Karui.

Kisame stared at them, smiling without a care.

* * *

As the Mangekyo morphed into the iris of the Uchiha, Naruto threw up an illusion. One which was barely worth the half thought Itachi evidently gave before Naruto felt it dispel.

He cursed, tossing his weapon light up over his head to form his old handseal when ten clones appeared at his side and rushed the Uchiha, wind blades drawn.

He raised his hand to snatch the weapon out of the air when, it was struck by the hollow hilt of a kunai grip with a sharp, loud *clang* of steel striking steel, sending his weapon careening out of his reach. He snapped his eyes back to stare at the Uchiha.

For the barest fraction of a second the world's color vanished, contrasting sharply into non-colors. As if everything was stilled in the negative of a photo where he saw a dozen blades piercing his clones, all of them vanishing in puffs of smoke as the world turned back to its vibrant hues in the next fraction of a second, leaving no traces.

Naruto's lips curled. To be able to capture ten people in a genjutsu strong enough to make them _feel_ as if they'd been injured, even if just for a moment...the rumors about the Uchiha's prowess at the art were not exaggerated in the least

His weapon was out of reach for now, his clones wouldn't work, at least not in limited numbers. He doubted...or hoped maybe...that Itachi couldn't repeat the act on a hundred of them simultaneously.

He would only get one shot before someone like Itachi was able to adapt. So he'd have to bide his time. That meant for now all he had was Tai and Ninjutsu to work with until he could get his weapon back.

"Is this the extent of your skill?" The sneer could almost be heard in the words despite the Uchiha's placid face.

Despite the situation, Naruto smirked. Many people came to regret underestimating him. Time to add Uchiha Itachi to the list. "Not even close!"

With a leap and a toss of of six kunai, in mid air Naruto landed away from the water wall and closer to his weapon. The six blades digging down to their hilts into the ground to form a large circle around Itachi as Naruto pulled tight on the ninja wire tied to their rings.

With a surge of chakra wind blades burst from the strings. Whirling, shredding crescents. So many that the air around Itachi became a nebulous haze, not dissimilar to a heat distortion but so much so he couldn't even make out what was within.

He shoved more chakra into the strings to sustain the attack a second longer before he jumped again with a back-flip, keeping himself facing the Uchiha's last position as he landed in a crouch.

His hand reached down to grip the weapon only to find it resting under a boot and himself staring at a red cloud robe not two feet infront of his face.

Without hesitating he drew a kunai, a slash of a wind sharpened edge looking to cut open the Uchiha's throat before Itachi leaned away, the graze of the razor sharp weapon missing by mere millimeters

When the blond struck again for a followup, his blade was met by his own weapon, a flaming sword in the place of his wind one as the kunai in his hand burst into bright fire, searing his fingers as he released the hilt with a hiss, reeling away, barely managing a hasty dodge of Itachi's fist before he moved to counter drawing twin kunai before thrusting them forward.

With the near precognitive insight of the Sharingan the Uchiha could see him move before his arms even twitched in his direction. The Mangekyo spun, languidly as he moved to counter when he saw something _impossible_.

The blond had moved in a completely different way than what his Sharingan had warned him about.

Moving hastily, Itachi felt the warmth of his own blood as the kunai stabbed straight through the back of his hand blocking this fatal strike to dodge the other as Naruto's hands took hold of his weapon again, wrestling with the Uchiha's grip as he twisted the kunai still digging into the back of Itachi's other hand.

With a snarl and a brutal kick to the boy's sternum Naruto was sent sprawling back, rolling with the fall to reach his feet, weapon in hand as the Uchiha pulled the kunai free from his flesh, uninjured hand glowing green to heal the other.

The boy had taken first blood...impressive.

"That won't work twice." He warned.

Naruto smirked. "Your buddy said that too!"

Itachi. _"__H__e also said a name. The Ghost of Iwagakure..."_

He hummed in thought. _"Yes. I recall now. A Shinobi that singlehandedly destroyed a platoon of Uchiha reinforcements during the last days of the third war. Few survivors. __He must have found a way to counter the Sharingan's precognitive abilities. Once he is made aware of who his allies are, perhaps he'll tell me how it works."_

Still the trick wouldn't be enough. Mid and close range fighting were evidently the Uzumaki's specialty. He still held a superiority in Genjutsu, a staple of the boy's arsenal that let him close the distance and supplement his mid range skills. So both of those specialties were crippled.

Even if that were so, Itachi had no intention of ever letting him get close enough to use those skills.

He drew eight Shuriken tossing them at the boy before he formed a one handed seal.

_Lets see how you fare when someone doesn't play by your rules Naruto-san._

With a crackle of lightning forking between each and every Shuriken to form a wide net Naruto was forced to back away, backpedaling almost ten yards before the Shuriken finally lost momentum and fell to the earth.

He braced himself as he watched Itachi form another series of handseals.

"_**Kuchiyose: Raijin-ken!"**_

Slamming his hands down into the ground sparks of dancing electricity shot out of his fingertips to fan out infront of him. Twin, dog like bodies coalesced, half the size of a horse the snarling, incorporeal beasts rushed forward with screeching howls!

Naruto's chain whip whirled around him, the spinning dervish of wind pressure and scything blades taking the full brunt of the electricity for his defense before the now crackling chain was pulled free of its spinning motion. The blond moved to rush forward and attack when he noticed Itachi had slipped ten kunai behind the specter of the dogs to land infront of him, each burning with an explosive tag.

He leapt back cursing as grit and rock pelted his body before he landed once more, now almost seventy feet between himself and the Uchiha. Too far for anything in his arsenal besides the Great Breakthrough to really do much damage.

With another quick, careful hand-seal fifty clones were at his side. The blond replicas scrambled, allowing him to hopefully evade Itachi's all too keen eyes in the rush of identical bodies moving this way and that way.

Then they all charge.

With a flicker of a Genjutsu again, half of them are cut down, another second all of the others are destroyed a moment after they throw their shuriken.

Itachi barely even shifts avoiding the projectiles with mute indifference before he pivots right on his heel, fingers latching onto a throat as a shuriken becomes a Jinchuuriki.

He's about to comment on the idiocy of attempting a henge, the most bare basic of illusions on a Sharingan wielder when he notices a Rasengan rushing towards his stomach from Naruto's left hand. He move's his own left, awkwardly catching Naruto's wrist as he crosses it under his right before he sees the wind blade rushing at his head from the boy's right hand.

With a lightning fast slash Itachi's head is rolling from his shoulders, only for the body to shimmer and melt away to reveal hardened stone, holding the Jinchuuriki in Itachi's place.

"Did you think yourself immune to *my* skills Uzumaki-san?"

Naruto cursed, yanking himself free with a crack of stone before turning all the way around to face Itachi, only to find the Uchiha standing in the exact same spot he had been, and he himself once more nearly a hundred feet away, never having even moved from the place he'd been standing at before he ever made his second wave of clones.

A cold bead of sweat trailed down his temple.

* * *

Kisame offered a low whistle. "And six hundred!" He exclaimed with a chuckle. "Are you guys done with the warm up now?"

Karui, standing over a bleeding, concussed Omoi and the Inuzuka healing him blanched at the words. "That was a warm up?"

She hadn't realized she'd spoken aloud until Kisame turned to face her. "Heh! What? You kiddies were hoping I'd exhaust myself by hurling out clones." His grin grew a little wider. "Guess you don't read up on your bingo books too well. If I'd made double or triple that you might have gotten me a little winded. But this? Hah! _I don't even feel it_."

"Not cool." Samui muttered clutching at her side where a kick from a clone had nearly broken her rib. "This guy is unreal!"

"Un real or not it aint no big deal! You gotz the mighty Kirabee!" Despite his upbeat tone the Jinchuuriki was tense in his stance. Though he'd taken the lions share of the clones the fact of the matter was Kisame was truly living up to his reputation, the so called "Monster of Kiri"

He thought the clones were a simple way to stall them, and as long as Mr. Nine didn't pull out the Kyuubi's power he'd figured everything on his side of the wall was goin ok, so no need to really rush. Better to let Kisame exhaust himself mass producing clones.

But now the real objective was revealed.

Omoi was injured, Karui was on her last legs, Samui wouldn't be too much help in a head to head fight against someone like this and Hana was struggling to stabilize Omoi after having ordered her dogs to drag Yugito to safety. The Nibi-jinchuuriki might not appreciate being handled by dogs but she'd appreciate being dead _less_.

So now Kisame essentially just had one person to deal with.

Him.

Well fine...if he wanted one on one he'd get one on one!

"Pupils! Show no scruples. Heave up Omoi and leave, yo!"

"What!?" Karui shrieked. "We're not leaving you alone with this freak sensei!"

"Now that's hurting my feelings." Kisame commented, the smile turning predatory as he turned to face the frightened Karui.

"We have to leave." Samui commented. "We won't be any use here anymore."

"Its cool kids!" Bee assured. "The great eighto will be havin' fish fillets yo!"

Samui's frown deepened. "No its not." Never the less a jump she was at Omoi's side; heaving one arm up, over her shoulders with Hana doing the same the two kunoichi took off.

Karui gripped the hilt of her sword, frustrated. "Damnit!" She cursed before following after them.

The Monster of the hidden mist smiled, reaching up to grip Samaheda, pulling it free from the place on his back. "Ya know, I've only ever heard stories from the Shodaime era as to that style of yours. Seven swords...its considered dead."

"Dead as a breeze! It always comes back with ease and ready to please!"

"Hehehehe." He laughed. "This'll be an interesting-"

An explosion of fire, soaring over the massive water wall interrupted the man.

In a second Bee pulled on Gyuuki's power! The shroud of demonic energy covering his body.

Looks like Mr. Nine needed help!

* * *

Tobi hummed, somewhere low in his throat "I see." He drawled. "Very clever of you."

"It has a certain degree of finesse." Tezai smiled, walking at the man's side. "I admit...its not as...flamboyant as placing the world in an eternal illusion...but ultimately it will weed out so many irritating people that might get in the way of your goals and mine. Especially within Konohagakure."

"Goals I've yet to hear about."

"And you won't..." He answered flatly. "Your trust isn't needed. My trust isn't needed. Only our mutual co-operation onto an end goal before we inevitably have to look forward to each-other's untimely deaths."

"Wiping out Konoha." Tobi considered.

Truthfully the leaf village was practically inconsequential. But there was one thing they had that he needed.

The Nidaime's sealing notes. Somewhere in Konoha in one of their many forbidden vaults they held the Nidaime's notes on the Edo-tensei.

Orochimaru was another option, given that he'd completed the Nidaime's work more recently. But the man was a snake in every sense of the word and he is _dangerous_. He was confident in his ability to kill him; but he didn't need him dead. He needed his notes. He needed his research. So he needed him captured and information extracted from him as to where he could find those things.

And capturing a ninja of his skill...was not easy, or even likely. Konoha hadn't succeeded and they'd been after the man for decades.

So Konoha's destruction, offered him a way to freely search for those notes offered him a way to recreate the technique _perfectly. _Perhaps even better than Orochimaru's notes would, which had from what he knew, been drawn up from what little could be found on the records of the Nidaime's earliest exploits with the incomplete technique.

"We'll have to discuss this further once I'm finished here."

"Of course." The gardener answered amiably, leaving Tobi to turn back to his Genjutsu enthralled teammate.

"Oi, Deidara-sempai! Are we there yet?" He questioned in a high lilting voice.

Shut up Tobi." The man growled clutching at his head. The after effects of the drug. "My head is killing me."

"Will it blow up?"

* * *

Omoi groaned, his head swimming and his stomach heaving. Concussions did that when the victim had to move.

Being carried at a Shinobi's regular traveling speed sort of, counted.

"St-stop!" He gasped, coughing/dry-heaving "I feel like I'm gonna throw up!" He complained to the Inuzuka as he leaned against one of the buildings by the village.

"We can't stop!" Samui protested. Her and Karui holding Yugito between the two of them. "We have to find the nearest patrol and get help for sensei!"

"Sure..._sensei_...not like there's someone else over there that might need some backup." Hana muttered to herself wryly. She got that they had their priorities and Naruto really wasn't on anyone's save perhaps Bee's, but still...

Sniffing she searched for a scent but with the overwhelming smell of smoke and burnt wood in the air coming from the temple grounds it wasn't easy, not to mention the whole village full of unconscious tourists.

She cursed, hefting Omoi on her shoulder, ignoring his groan. "We've got to keep moving! There's nothing anywhere near here!

Samui nodded, ready to voice her agreementwhen a glimmer on the horizon caught her attention.

She paused, squinting into the distance.

* * *

Samaheda was _**feasting. **_Kisame's grin was as broad as his sword as the scaled weapon ate away at the Hachibi Jinchuuriki's chakra cloak, though the Ox seemed ever ready to provide more as Bee became a whirling dervish of blades.

More and more he waited to call on his arsenal of ninjutsu, ever more precariously approaching harm.

This was a swordsman's dream! An opponent with a style, completely opposite of their own, meeting weapon to weapon, power and technique coming together, as one in perfect harmony. He was loathe to ruin this exquisite experience by tarnishing it with _Ninjutsu_. It was so rare to find in his enemies.

Unfortunately all good things must eventually come to an end as Bee leapt back, breaking the deadlocked sword clash and deftly formed his handseals even with seven blades on him.

_**"Raito-"**_

Without even making a single handseal Kisame's throat bulged, a torrent of impossible quantities of water gushing out of his lips to smash into Bee with the force of an out of control wagon.

When the attack finally died away it revealed the Hachibi Jinchuuriki his arms crossed infront of him, legs spread out, chakra gripping the four of his swords were gone the proportions of his arms, abnormal, looking more like stone than skin only to pull back and reveal unblemished flesh.

"So you've mastered the Hachibi's power." The Nuke nin smirked. "No wonder Samaheda can't eat the cloak off. Here I thought you'd be a joke like the rest of your kind!"

"Aint no joke. The Bee and Gyuuki won't choke! We'll make you stroke ya fool!"

Kisame laughed.

"_**Bee!"**_

The attack was as sudden as the shout was loud, and if decades of experience hadn't honed Kisame's instincts to a fine edge his head would most likely have been ripped clear off his shoulders.

With the raising of the Samaheda an impossibly hard fist smashed into its surface, draining out the Chakra of the Raikage's legendary lightning armor before the Nuke nin-now no longer smiling- but rather snarling, shoved the Yondaime Raikage away with a swipe of the broad side of his sword, catapulting the man away to land at Bee's side!"

"Bro!?" Bee blinked.

"You idiot!" A roared, not drawing his eyes away from Kisame. "Your _**job**_ is to stay in _**Kumo**_ Bee!"

"Don't yelp! Yugi needed help!"

"You should have left it to us then!"

Kisame frowned. If the Raikage was here, Anbu escorts were likely not far behind. Looks like Itachi's time was up.

* * *

"You have been tested, and been found wanting." Itachi drawled his voice carrying the distance to the bleeding Naruto, a piece of shrapnel dug _deep_ into the blonds shoulder from the earlier explosion. One that Itachi hadn't given him the chance to even reach for let alone pull out.

The Jinchuuriki cursed. An open cut was on his brow dripping blood into his eye and Itachi didn't even look like he had a hair out of place.

If he could just get the bastard within twenty goddamn feet!

Suddenly, the sheer wall of boiling water came crashing down, flooding much of the area with almost ankle high water before it spread and thinned out.

Itachi looked away from him and Naruto dared a glance, finding Kisame, Bee and the Raikage standing there.

The blue skinned man looked to his partner. "Mind getting us out of here?"

Itachi blinked, staring at the two men before he moved to form a handseal.

"You're not going anywhere!"

One second A was at nearly twice the distance Naruto himself held from the genocidal Uchiha. The next, he was punching where Itachi had been standing, a wisp of black smoke wafting up, away from his extended fist.

Kisame looked at himself, slowly disappearing now. "Heh! He normally drags us both out at the same time. You're damn fast old man, to break his concentration like that!"

A rounded on the Akatsuki. "You attack _**My **_people!?" His face could have been carved of chiseled stone to represent a war god with the fury radiating off his features. "Now you've made your _**worst **_enemy! I will make it my personal _**mission **_to deal with you! And I won't stop till I hunt you down and kill every last one of you bastards!"

Kisame smiled, his body almost fully gone now. "Actually we were just after him." He gestured with his head to Naruto. "The one's that were after your girl they're already dealt with." His smile turned predatory. "We'll be back for them though. You can count on that."

A's lightning armor crackled. "You _**try**_ it."

The echo of Kisame's laughter answered him.

* * *

Hello this chapter is largely filler but it does lay down a few things we'll be seeing down the road a little further on in the next installments.

I predict two to three more chapters on this particular installment before its wrapped up and the sequel will be posted down the road.

After this story is done with I will resume updating Souls of Heroes and the sequel to Shikon that I have neglected for several months now. To the fans of those stories, I apologize but it is needed.

Now before anyone decides to ask me, I'll preemptively try to answer the question as to why Naruto was able to kill both Kakuzu and Hidan and wasn't even able to lay a hand on Itachi.

Kakuzu and Hidan both walked into the fight didn't know Naruto's arsenal of techniques. And even though Kakuzu had an idea what turned the fight was more a circumstance of luck in which Kakuzu tried to go pound for pound on raw chakra for ninjutsu which Naruto flatly won. When he did that overwhelmed Kakuzu especially when his defense was sabotaged. Hidan however marched in completely ignorant to the repertoir and it was his utter lack of knowledge that did him in. He wasn't looking for Good Genjutsu because he didn't know Naruto used Genjutsu. He wasn't expecting a chain because he didn't know Naruto used one, nor was he expecting wind chakra. All the three things that played out at once to do him in.

Itachi however observed the fight before hand, he knew what to expect, had analyzed the methodology and can still at this stage in the game outshine Naruto in raw power in every shinobi field. And further, every shinobi range. Close mid and Long. Rather than tie himself down by fighting on Naruto's terms he took the fight and put it on his terms, observing that out of everything Naruto had demonstrated, long range combat was not one of them. Without Naruto able to effectively close the distance between Genjutsu and Itachi's own speed, the boy had no teeth or claws to attack and was purely on the defensive for the whole fight. And how long could anyone go defense with Itachi?

From this point on I hope to make it so this is how a lot of the fights are going to be decided. It will be more what the character knows about their enemy being a factor, as opposed to the raw brute power winning fights. If every ninja fight was decided by raw brute power gennin wouldn't be promoted to chuunin based on their brains and Shikamaru would be beaten by Konohamaru.

At any rate I hope you enjoyed it. R&R pls. Or I'll be sad.


	28. The brave man

"Are you seriously gonna wear that?"

"Hell yes!" Naruto shouted the tip of his tongue peeking out from his teeth as he tried to push the string through the tiny opening.

"You're a ninja." Hana said drily, raising a slender eyebrow. "Not some jingling Kabuki. How the hell do you expect to pull off stealth?"

"With skill!" He answered smiling as the string slipped into the hole before shifting his grip and spreading the length of cord out to show off the two headbands tied to it, dangling like an oversized pair of dog tags.

Kakuzu's Takigakure and Hidan's Yukigakure symbols were quickly tied around his neck, the sheets of steel glinting there.

She face-palmed, half groaning. "You're going to get yourself killed with those."

"Hey come on!" Naruto pouted. "My first real kill was an S class ninja! Two of them! How many people can say that? I deserve to show off!"

"Yes clearly you're Hashirama come again." She groused "If of course we exclude the ass kicking you got afterwards."

"I didn't see you doing any better!" He shot back with a huff, finishing tying off his two trophies with a clink of metal as he pulled on the wire. "I'm gonna have nine of these by the time I'm done. One for each Akatsuki!"

"Again, only if we discount the ass kicking you got _after_."

"I'll get stronger." He answered simply.

"With what? Hopes and dreams?"

Naruto grinned. "Nah I've got a plan!"

"Mind sharing then? Uchiha Itachi is no pushover, not even when he was a green as a grasshopper's ass gennin."

Naruto shrugged. "Well one of the things that was helping him hand me my liver and beat down my delicate confidence and self esteem was because I just wasn't fast enough to get close whenever I realized I was in an illusion. Even when I would break it he'd just be able to stay far enough away to make it not matter. I couldn't get close enough to hurt him."

"So you're gonna learn some long range skills?" Hana asked.

"Hell no!" Naruto scoffed. "I'm just gonna get fast enough to punch his face in when I see him next time."

Hana slapped her forehead. "Honestly. You're sabotaging your stealth and now think you can just get fast enough to catch Itachi before he comes after you a second time? Are you trying to sound like an idiot or does it just come naturally."

"Ummm..."

"Nevermind." She rolled her eyes. "So fine. What's this plan of yours to get faster?"

Naruto smiled. "Well-"

The door opened and the two Konoha nin turned to see Bee, Samui, Karui and Omoi marching out of the Raikage's office.

"How'd it go?" The blond asked.

"We're cool." Samui answered before pointing behind her with her thumb. "You guys are up now though."

Naruto and Hana nodded moving from their respective seat and place on the wall before marching past the four members of the Kumo team and marching into A's place of work.

"Close the door." The mountain of a man growled, and both Konoha nin swiftly obeyed, closing the double doors with clicks.

"First off I'll say thank you for helping one of mine."

"No problem"

"Sure"

Then his big finger swiveled over to point at Naruto. "But you shouldn't have dragged Bee out of Kumo!"

"He dragged me!"

"You dragged eachother." Hana cut in before adressing A. "He didn't convince Bee anymore than Bee convinced him. They both went and everyone followed."

"Then you should have made him stay behind." A growled, glaring at them to get them to understand that they should just be quiet and accept the rebuke, unfair as it may have been. Bee's place was in Kumo and everyone should know that.

"Now." He took hold of a metal box on the side of his desk sliding it forward towards Naruto "By all accounts this is yours. The bounty on Kakuzu of Taki and Hidan of Yuki."

The blond blinked owlishly, leaning forward to open the box. He took a half glance inside before he slammed it shut, grinning like a loon!

Then A turned to Hana. "For your help." He shoved three scrolls forward. "Pick whichever suits you. It was meant to be used by our summons. But you can adapt it to those dogs of yours easy enough I think.

Hana opened each, finding them to be some B rank elemental techniques, nothing too fancy but something mainly Kumo-hawk summons used so she wouldn't find it in Konoha libraries most like. Still he was right it wouldn't take much to adapt given Inuzuka nin-ken intelligence was almost on par with summoned creatures.

She nodded, smiling in thanks as she pocketed the fire scroll "Thanks, though I wasn't really expecting' anything"

"That's why I gave it." A remarked before resting his elbows on his desk and glaring at Naruto. "Now, what can you tell me about the Uchiha's skill?"

The stupid smile on his face vanished, with the blond becoming serious in the next second. "He's strong as hell."

"I gathered that."

"No I mean really strong. He can do short, mid and long range, can do the strongest genjutsu I've ever seen, get rid of mine like he's ripping up cheap rice paper, fight in Kenjutsu. The guy's an all round powerhouse. And that's not even counting that bullshit eye of his. He's a fire element primarilly, but don't think he's limited to that. I saw him pulling off lightning jutsu, and a few other elements too!"

"Then how do you know he's fire?"

Naruto unhooked his weapon from his belt, showing off the wind blade. "This thing can channel people's natural affinity to make a weapon. Itachi's was fire."

"Hmm." The Raikage leaned back in his chair. "Any recommendations from your experience?"

"Other than not looking into his eyes I didn't see any weakness that can help. Not looking into his eyes makes the fight "_survivable_". Looking into them is an automatic dead ninja."

A's lips curled. "Just like most of the reports said. There are few ninja that can boast having no real weaknesses to exploit. Even other Akatsuki, like that Iwa nin, Deidara, have known fields where they're skills are sub par.

Naruto shrugged "Meh. I'll get him next time."

A raised an eyebrow, Hana was becoming more and more certain he'd taken a too solid blow to the head from the Uchiha.

"At any rate." The Raikage continued. We won't be able to keep your presence a secret for much longer. You'll have to be updated in the Bingo book soon. I'll keep the update from happening in our offices until we release you into Konoha custody. But regardless I need you to head down to administration to get your picture taken."

Naruto nodded.

A raven peered in through the window, standing on an opposing ledge.

* * *

"You didn't capture him?"

"The Raikage intervened."

Kushina sighed. "Why didn't you just grab him?"

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "He's no longer a mere twelve year old gennin. I believed whomever you've had him training with would have extensively trained him in manipulating his Bijuu. You know that no capture mission can be conducted safely unless the Jinchuuriki's power has been fully unleashed and bested. The ghost of Iwa it seems, taught him more rudimentary skills than specialization as a Jinchuuriki."

Kushina sighed. Trust Itachi to make a point, and deduce who else she had under her pay roll.

"And now he's in Kumo."

The Uchiha nodded. "My thralls inform me he's treated well, though neither he nor the Inuzuka have joined Kumo by any stretch. If I were to hazard a guess, A is keeping them in the village."

It took her a second or two to piece it together. "The negotiations."

Itachi nodded. "He'll hand them to Konoha. It will make alliances easier should he need it."

"After that stint with the Hyuuga I suppose he needs a showing of good faith." Kushina confirmed. "What would you say his skill level is?"

"Jounin, easilly. His Genjutsu is where mine was when I was innitiated into the Anbu, his ninjutsu is limited, but well practiced. Close range skills are diverse and unpredictable. Its his greatest strength the others seem to be more supplementary for it."

"Hmm."

"Orders?"

The red-head thought for a good minute. "Here's what you're going to do..."

* * *

Hana had an eyebrow hiked up into her hairline as the door to the temporary apartment opened to reveal Naruto lumbering in with an armful of thick textbooks. "I never took you for the type." She drawled as her dogs barked in greeting.

The blond set the books down, forming a seal to make three clones as he grinned at her. "I'm not!" He chirped before setting himself down on the bed as his clones took to the books.

Hana paused. "Wait...are...you making your clones read?"

Naruto nodded. "Yup. When I dispel them anything they've learned I'll learn instantly."

Hana's eyes nearly popped out of her skull. Looking at the three clones it didn't take her long to realize the potential for rapid improvement here if he could make _more _of them.

"There are some limits though." The blond offered. "Nobody but me could really use it. Their brain would fry without a way to heal quick..." His face scrunched up in thought. "Then there's also the fact that I sometimes have to relearn things."

"What do you mean?"

"I have to relearn how to do some stuff." He shrugged. "If you have a undred clones working on something, then yeah, you'll learn it faster, but you'll also learn a hundred mistakes. So you gotta take the time to practice out the mistakes with the techniques. So unlike a ninja who learns it the old fashioned way, and knows the technique inside out by the time he can do it properly I've got to keep my eyes open for mistakes I'm making that can make the technique not work or are making it less effective."

She nodded "You miss out on time spent but also miss out on some of the benefits."

"Yeah." He answered with a smile. "Like hand seal speed. Most Jounin just get faster at hand seals because of how many they've done in their lives but also the muscle memory on the technique they're gonna pull off. They can just do them without really thinking. I've either got to practice that separately or think about it when I'm gonna pull it off in a fight."

Hana opened her mouth to ask when she remembered his words. _Muscle memory_ she supposed clones couldn't help with that so she shut her mouth.

Resting on the beds, little more than the rifling of pages between them for a moment Hana couldn't help but break the silence again. "So what exactly are you working on?"

"Well I need a way to get faster and A gave me an idea!"

"You're gonna re-create the lightning armor?" She asked, watching as one of her dogs moved to jump on Naruto's bed, the blond absently scratching at its head as he responded.

"Pft." Naruto scoffed. "Hell no! I wouldn't have the control for that even if it killed me. Its why I need a medium to channel wind chakra around me. But where A's technique is all purpose, attack defense and speed, I wanna make something that's purely speed oriented, I can cover offense if I can get close enough."

Hana frowned. "That sound's like it'll take a while even with clones. The Raikage's lightning armor is a complex Kinjutsu of pure elemental manipulation. If anyone could just recreate it it wouldn't be as dangerous as it is."

Naruto blinked. "Yeah so?"

"You don't really have that kinda time." She said Itachi could show up for you at any minute. Don't you think you should get something else to at least get you some kind of an edge?"

The dog beside her barked its agreement.

"Like what?"

She threw her hands up in a wide shrug. "You fought him. You tell me!"

Naruto cupped his chin, eyes scrunching up in thought.

Another silence descended on the two with Naruto thinking, his clones reading and Hana waiting.

After a minute or so, the Inuzuka woman once more, broke the silence. "By the way..." She ventured.

"Hmmm?"

"You're gonna try to escape Konoha custody again aren't you."

"Yup!" He answered with a smile.

"That Kisame guy was a monster." She said. "I can imagine Itachi's on the same level right?"

Naruto nodded a little confused at the apparent change. "I guess. I've never fought Kisame but Itachi's earned his reputation I can say that. I think he was just toying with me while we were fighting."

"I got the same feeling from Kisame...and he was fighting four shinobi, two Nin-ken and one Jinchuuriki..." She leaned back, the nape of her neck resting against the wall. "I guess..." She sighed, an agravated sound escaping her throat. Naruto's sharp hearing picked up her muttering. _"Never any good at this shit."_

She looked at him, lips pursed in something akin to displeasure, or impatience as he and the dog beside him tilted their heads, curious. "You-You're very brave...for doing what you did."

"Eh?" He blinked owlishly.

"You threw yourself to a bunch of S class wolves to keep your friends out of the crossfire." She clarified. "And you're gonna keep doing it again and again until they're dead...or you are. So...if you never hear it from any other Konoha-nin. Hear it from me then. What you've done might be one of the bravest thing's I've ever seen."

By the end of her little speech, Naruto was blushing with a rosy hue across his cheeks, scratching the back of his head as his smile strained. Too unused to receiving words of gratitude. "It-I...uhh...Don't worry about it." The dog at his side craned its neck up to lick at his cheek. He laughed.

She smirked. "It was...but if you ever say I got into this sappy crap to anyone I'll deny it into the grave and hurt you. We clear?"

His smile said it all.

* * *

It was an event that was a bit more ritualized than Tsunade was comfortable with. Her only consolation was that there were two other countries that were likely going to be going through the same thing in a few days.

She was standing beside the Daimyo in her full Hokage regalia, at the other side was the head of the Daimyo's standing samurai army. And arrayed before them were the six shinobi chosen to guard the Daimyo.

One by one they stepped forward. Two Anbu captains and four Jounin of the highest standing. The Daimyo's safety meant nothing less.

Each repeated the words and Tsunade gave no second thought until the speaker came up to the last of them.

"Haruno Sakura. Jounin of Konohagakure no sato. Subject to the esteemed Godaime Hokage Senjuu Tsunade. Is this your name and ranking?"

"It is." The pink haired girl answered.

"Do you swear to obey your commands, whatever these might be, as they are given to you by your lord and liege, the Daimyo of _Hi no Kuni_?"

"I so swear."

"Do you swear to guard him and all he owns, even unto death?"

"I so swear"

"Do you swear to guard him and all he owns, even unto the detriment of your home and family?"

"I so swear."

"Do you swear to cast aside all personal ambition? To exist solely for the protection of this, your lord and liege until you are released from such service?"

"I so swear."

"Then as my authority as speaker for his eminence I name you all Protectors of the Fire. Rise."

And all six guards rose as one, standing at rest before the fire Daimyo.

Tsunade prayed that it would be unnecessary to test any of them on these promises.

Optimism was never her strong suit.

* * *

Whelp here we are. A little shorter than my previous chapters but I expect the next one to be a little longer to make up for it. Hope you enjoyed it regardless. The next chapter will probably be the final one for this installment. After I post that I'll start updating Heroes and Fate again. And once I'm done with those I'll right up the "sequel" to this.

R&R


	29. The stage

"Yo yo miss two! Look who I brought in to see you!" Bee's announcement was followed by the crashing of a flung door, thrown open by the musically inclined Jinchuuriki to reveal himself, and his blond haired, nine tailed counterpart.

Yugito looked up from her place on the bed, smiling fondly at the bigger man. "Kirabee." She greeted simply before turning her eyes to Naruto. "And you are the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki yes?"

Naruto smiled. "I prefer Naruto if you don't mind."

Yugito nodded. "Of course, I'm sorry." She then noticed the two headbands dangling from around his neck. "Are those..."

Naruto noticed where she was squinting, his smile growing all the more as he scratched the back of his head. "Hah, yeah. Figured since I killed em might as well show off the accomplishment!"

Suddenly and without warning a gloomy pall settled over the blond woman, staring down at her lap where her fists bunched the sheets between her hands.

"Huh? Hey you ok?" Naruto asked, blinking in confusion next to the equally bewildered Bee.

"_I lost to the weaker of them while he beat both by himself." _The two heard her mutter under her breath.

"Uhhh?"

Yugito looked back up, smiling serenely. "Just fine Naruto-san."

The young man and Bee shared a look before both shrugged their shoulders at the girl's mercurial mood.

"I was wondering-" She continued. "You managed to beat two of them, and Bee tells me you had warned him about another of them, Uchiha Itachi, when he first appeared, how much more insight do you have on the rest of the members?"

Naruto shrugged. "Ahh, haven't really fought any of the others and I don't know much besides what's in the bingo books. Confirmed so far are Itachi, who's good at everything, some shark guy called Kisame that can eat Chakra or something, Bee fought him. He pointed at the now posing man. "There's some guy from Suna that uses puppets, another guy from Iwa that likes to blow things up and one other guy from Kusa. But there's no information on him other than him just looking weird."

Yugito raised an eyebrow. "Nothing more than standard Bingo Book information? Then how was it you beat Kakuzu? Or knew to avoid that...Hidan from cutting you?"

Again, the blond shrugged. "Kakuzu I just...fought. I didn't really go in there with a plan and that other guy I just put him in a Genjutsu and cut off his head. What happens when he cuts-"

He paused, noticing another gloomy pall had settled over the kunoichi.

"Errr..."

It took a little while longer for Yugito's "sunny" disposition to return.

"There was something Bee-san mentioned that has me curious Naruto-san. When you were fighting the Uchiha, you never actually called on your Bijuu."

Naruto, now sitting on a chair by one side of the bed while Bee sat at the foot of the bed next to Yugito's feet, shrugged once more. "Nah I didn't"

"Why?" She asked. "The Uchiha was a very powerful opponent, Bee says that you were injured, your arm was nearly crippled, why not use it?"

"Don't really know ho-." He blurted out, then, realized what exactly he was doing before he amended the statement. "-ow to do it without killing everyone!" He exclaimed. "Yeah. Wasn't sure if Hana-chan, Samui, Omoi and Karui-san would be able to survive it!"

"Yo don't sweat it bro! My students can overcome with compensation!"

"Didn't wanna risk it!" The youth answered with a strained smile, pleased they bought his lie. A Jinchuuriki that didn't know how to use his Bijuu was like a swordsman with no sword. Better they think he at least had something to swing around if it came down to it.

"Well that aint right! We need to get you set up to call on the big blight!"

_**'That is offensive you know**_**.'**

Bee ignored Gyuuki's protest. "Yeah starting tomorrow we'll push to get you sweatin on how to get the big fox to do your biddin'!

Naruto's eyes sparkled at the thought of training, then he remembered. "Ahh wait...Bee I'll be leaving with A-san in three more days for the summit we won't really have time.

And just like that the wind was taken out of Bee's sails.

"But hey! There's no reason we can't train after I escape Konoha again!"

And Bee snapped his fingers. "That's a brilliant plan you've made stand my man!"

Yugito raised a slender eyebrow, wondering when the two would realize that it actually _wasn't _a very good plan.

"Oh but wait-" And they had a winner. "If I come back then A will just send me back to Konoha again and we won't get to train!"

"Yeah you're right! So that means we have to train where bro won't discern before we can adjourn! We gots to go outside Kumo when you make your return!"

"I thought you couldn't leave Kumo?"

"Miss two can cover for me and you!"

It took her brain a second to catch up.

"Wait what?"

* * *

It was three days later, right on the proverbial clock when the iron clamps came down around Naruto's wrists, clicking shut with Chakra resistant steel.

He pouted "Aww come on..." He looked up at A, blue eyes wide and glimmering. "I thought we were friends!"

'A' scowled. "We're not."

"Who is this then?"

The smile on Naruto's face fell to a curious frown. Staring at the cherubic veneer of a gilded mask as a man, a head and shoulders shorter than A approached, staring at him.

"A gift of good will." A answered before gesturing to Hana. "The Inuzuka as well."

"And yet she is not chained."

"She is not a missing-nin." The Raikage said simply before turning around with a brusque about-face. "Bee, Yugito!"

The two Jinchuuriki stepped up to the Raikage with bandages still wrapped around the blond woman's torso.

"You two are staying here! You're to protect Kumo until I return!"

"Yes Raikage-sama."

"Bro, no need to pout! I'll go all out!"

As the village leader instructed his two subordinates Hana marched up beside Naruto, looking down at the iron bands clapped around his wrist. "You ok in those?"

Naruto brought his hands up, snapping the chains taut as he pulled his hands apart. "I'll live I guess." He turned to her with a small smile. "Still, you'll get to go home now! That's good right?"

Hana's smile was a little bemused, wondering if he was trying to change the subject or be nice by ignoring the fact that he was on a one way trip into the village he was trying to escape. "You saying you don't want me around?

Naruto shrugged. "Meh, I'll miss these guys!" He bent down to pet the two dogs at the Inuzuka's side.

"That hurts my feelings Uzumaki." She let out a soft chuckle.

Then there were two pairs of footsteps when Naruto looked up it was to see Bee and Yugito standing before him.

The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki smiled up at them as he straightened to his full height.

"Guess I'll see you Bee."

The Hachibi Jinchuuriki's face scrunched up, eyes glimmering with tears behind his sunglasses.

He lunged forward, gripping Naruto in a fierce hug sobbing uncontrollably.

Naruto blinked as he was lifted off his feet.

Yugito slapped her forehead, Hana chuckled.

"Well...at least I'm not involved in this one." The dog lover rejoiced.

* * *

It sat with Konoha to the south, Kumo to the north and Otogakure to the east. For Iwa, it was not an ideal location considering they'd have to cross the potentially hostile territory of Otogakure but it was the best that could be managed with Konoha making the arrangements. They would not risk the safety of their own Daimyo for the convenience of another.

The ruins of what was once Yotsushio, the birthplace of the respected Yotsuki clan of Kumogakure, one that had been leveled to the ground before the end of the long war. It was the place where Kumogakure, much like Konohagakure with the Uzumaki, drew their village insignia from.

The crumbling remains weren't under anyone's territory. The Yotsushio had chosen this land as they'd helped choose Kumo. In the heights of the world with very limited access. It would have made a strong fortress if Kumo or anyone could ever gather enough spare resources to repair and maintain one this far out of normal trade routes.

The thin air was enough to exhaust nearly anyone, even A found himself breathing harder, a ninja's already limited fighting time would be cut down even further up here.

Had Tsunade chosen this place? Or was it the Hi no Kuni Daimyo to give his samurai an edge?

Were they marching into an ambush?

"Whoa! Look at that!"

It was Naruto's voice that brought attention to the ruins themselves.

Just as much of Kumo's earliest years could be attributed to this clan, so could its building techniques.

Sitting at the very top of the peak, like a crown resting on the brow of a great king were the ruins, encircling the mountain near the tip, its buildings an individual jewel gleaming in the light of the setting sun.

The corpse of what was once Yotsushio, where this war would perhaps be delayed for a while longer yet.

Without preamble A turned around, marching right up to Naruto before holding his hand out to Darui who immediately produced a black cloth.

Grabbing it the Raikage brandished it infront of the blond. "I'm gonna put this on Uzumaki."

"Huh?" The youth's face scrunched up. "Why?"

"Political reasons." He explained. "Iwa could interfere or be better prepared for when I present you if they catch wind of you beforehand. This way, they won't know what or who I'm bringing if they do manage to see us.

"Why do you explain." Mokou questioned, the cherubic mask tilting to the side. "He is a prisoner. Nothing more."

"I'm not giving him a choice. But he's earned the courtesy of an explanation." The Raikage offered before stepping closer and wrapping the black cloth around Naruto's face before much more could be said.

As soon as he was done the massive man turned away and barked out to the rest of his men. "Lets keep moving!" With one of them leading Naruto forward.

* * *

"Hokage-sama."

Tsunade turned, offering a look over her shoulder "Hmmm? They're here then?"

"Yes Ma'am."

"And the Iwa delegation?"

"As per your orders they've been shown to the west wing"

And the Daimyo?

"Safe, twelve Samurai and six Shinobi stand as guards for him as per your and Hiyoshi-dono's command."

She nodded. "Good. Can you tell if Kumo's Daimyo is with the Raikage or did they send a representative like Iwa?"

"I did not see the Daimyo's standard Hokage-sama."

"That means both sides could be more inclined to start a fight With neither of their Daimyo's at risk. Show them to the east wing. And then get your men, watch them _all. _We'll meet formally tomorrow, and I want no surprises."

"Understood ma'am."

* * *

***CAW***

The sound brought Orochimaru's eyes up to see the raven thrall as it flew through the passage to land at his desk. The black orb of its eye peering at him as its clawed feet scratched at the wood.

The pale snake turned his eyes back to the file in his hand. "He is gone Itachi. I don't know what you told him. But he left the very next day. No trace left."

The Sannin paused. "He'll probably go after you...one way or the other..."

The raven scratched at the desk, then with a flare and a flap of its wings it was gone, leaving nothing but a few feathers remaining.

"But you already guessed that out didn't you." He muttered to the remaining feathers as he turned a page.

* * *

They would meet in the village square. The Samurai and Shinobi of Hi-no kuni were the first to rise and take their designated places as the hosts of the summit meeting. With Tsunade, the Hokage, and Nagakute Hyoshi, the head general of the Daimyo's standing army standing in wait. A long table had been spread out with seven chairs for the delegates.

In a place like this, with no servants, or workers, only crumbling stone and rotting wood, there were only the bare bones of a ceremony to speak of.

Iwa arrived first, Tsunade counted six Samurai in their number and four Shinobi escorts, not counting Onoki himself. The diminutive man marched side by side with a thin, armored man. She could vaguely recognize him as the Iwa Daimyo's nephew though she could not for the life of her remember his given name.

The Samurai spread themselves to stand at the western side of the courtyard, mirroring Konoha's twelve who stood on the south side of the square.

Kumo was next.

Tsunade counted only four Shinobi, including A, and two Samurai with the representative, a short man with a child faced mask.

Either A was very confident in his strength, or he had some serious faith that nothing would happen here.

They, took their place on the eastern side of the table.

The Daimyo of Hi no Kuni entered last.

Stepping out into the courtyard to march past Tsunade and Hyoshi, the man was dressed with a simple Haori and Hakama, with nothing but a thin layer of armor over his sword arm and a blade resting at his hip for his own protection. Tsunade would have preferred the man encased from head to toe in steel plate.

Everyone in the courtyard respectfully bowed, herself included, her eyes never leaving any of the opposing ninja.

When the Daimyo spoke, it was almost a relief.

"Now that we are all present let us all begin our efforts to form a lasting peace between our villages." Extending his hand, the raven haired man gestured to the table. "Please. Take your seats."

All rose from their bows, and immediately the representative of Iwa and Kumo moved to take their seats at either side of the Daimyo of Hi no Kuni, who sat at the head of the table.

Tsunade marched with Hyoshi after they seated themselves, taking the seat beside them, and finally A and Onoki taking seats beside herself and Hyoshi respectively.

The Daimyo opened his mouth to speak when Mokou, bowing his masked face quickly to show his intent, interrupted him. "Forgive me Taeda-sama. But before we begin, we of Kumo would like to offer a gift of our good will if you'll allow it."

The Daimyo raised an eyebrow, but quickly schooled his features, nodding sharply. "Very well. I accept your gesture with thanks."

Mokou bowed once more turning his head to look at A across from Tsunade and so the Raikage, made a gesture of his fingers as a response and an order. Darui bowed and vanished in a shunshin.

Seconds later, with another puff of smoke he was back with another Kumo Shinobi, two Nin-ken, a kunoichi and-

"Hey _Baa-chan_!"

* * *

Today...as Tsunade sat in a summit meeting that could very well determine the state of peace for the next decade. One could find Jiraiya fulfilling one of the most important functions of his work as a Konoha Ninja.

"_Hehehehehe" _Spying shamelessly on Konoha Kunoichi in the pursuit of keeping the Konoha male Shinobi population's morale up by, all the sooner, releasing the next installment of his award winning series.

"Yo"

The silver haired man turned, frowning in confusion before grinning. "Oi Kakashi! How's my number one fan?"

"Still number one!" The Copy nin smiled, taking up a perch beside the man, bemoaning the loss of his Sharingan eye as he peered into the onsen.

"So what's up? This one won't be out for a couple more month's ya kno."

"Actually, I was wondering if you could help me with something." The Jounin admitted.

"Whats that?" Jiraiya raised a curious eyebrow.

"You're one of the few left alive that fought with my father."

The sannin nodded, very curious now. Sakumo was not a subject Kakashi was known to talk about with anyone.

Reaching into his back the copy ninja pulled out a distinctive blade.

A moment later, the weapon was coated from pommel to tip in potent white Chakra.

Kakashi turned to look at the toad sannin his one remaining eye a gleaming silver as the chakra crawled up his arm, invading his tenketsu. "I was wondering if you could help me with this."

That had the toad sannin put away his notepad. "I never actually fought your father and only saw him fight once. Wouldn't it be better to find someone who actually did more with him?"

With an abrupt snap click the blade was back in its sheath, the chakra receding, Kakashi's eye returning to its natural hue.

"You're the only one strong enough to help me train, and the only one that knows enough about sealing to use it if something goes wrong." The copy ninja smiled. "So whadaya say? Willing to teach an old dog a new trick?"

Jiraiya shrugged. "Not sure how much help I'll be but I'll give it a shot. But first-" He turned back to his sight seeing as he pulled out his notepad again.

Kakashi happily joined him in this particular instance, he wouldn't mind spoilers.

* * *

Naruto was sitting still and keeping quiet.

A novel experience for him really.

Since all the ninja had to remain at their posts to guard the Daimyo he was currently sitting a little ways off, flanked by two of the Samurai escorts, Hana stood by the other Shinobi, her nin-ken sitting quietly at her side. She threw him an apologetic look but he smiled at her with a shrug.

He'd make his escape soon enough. He'd already unbound the knots with the rope binding jutsu he was just sticking around to see what happened at this point. Once his curiosity had been satisfied Then he'd make a thousand clones, toss a genjutsu here and there and slip away in the chaos.

The only real issue he could see would be Sakura since she could dispel his Genjutsu as easily as Itachi and might even be able to discern the real him in the mass of clones to boot. He had little doubt Tsunade, A and that short Tsuchikage might have been an issue too, since they could most likely detect and eliminate his best efforts, especially since two of them knew he used Genjutsu.

But they have an escort to protect at all cost.

A C rank missing nin wasn't a big enough fish to risk the security of the Daimyo or the representatives of the Daimyo, even slightly.

"It was your ninja that were spotted crossing our borders!" Takechio, the Iwa daimyo's nephew snarled at A and Mokou.

"Only after we'd received one too many distress missives from our trading caravans of increased bandit activity." A shot back. "You didn't answer our queries so we investigated ourselves.

"And ended up killing a team of our chuunin" Onoki cut in drily."

"Who were attacking one of our caravans!"

"A sanctioned mission to stop illegal contraband from leaving our borders. Which you still have I'll remind you!"

"There was nothing in those wagons." 'A' answered scathingly. "Except payment from one of our clients, grain, silks spices and furs. You just wanted to take a slice of the pie without paying your fair share Ryoutenbin! Is your village so _dirt _poor you have to resort to stealing like common Nuke-nin?"

Naruto scowled. _I take offense to that!_

The pudged nosed Onoki scowled. "I've got enough money to buy you, your village and your ninja ten times over! Raikage."

"Before we get to measuring each-others...ego." Tsunade fished, amending her statement at the last moment. "I'll remind everyone here that this is a negotiation table. The point is to negotiate a deal. Not argue. You wouldn't have come here if you wouldn't have terms you wanted to pursue."

"Well said lady Hokage." Mokou praised, once more bowing his head contritely before producing a small scroll. "These are the terms our lord has laid out to agree to a truce. "Firstly. Iwa is to pull all forces back behind the Koshuo river."

"That is thirty miles from our borders!" Takeshio gasped.

"Furthermore." Mokou spoke over him. "They are to hand over all the stolen goods appropriated from our caravans within the last year. To not do so will be considered a declaration of intent of war. The estimated number of goods are listed here."

The hunched back figure moved to hold out a scroll when young Takeshio smacked it out of his hand. "Do you relate negotiation to extortion!?"

"Please!" Taeda shouted over the two men "If we cannot even make demands at the table without descending into shouting contests. We will never get anywhere!"

"This summit was never going to work Taeda-dono." Takeshio pointed straight at the cherubic faced Mokou. "Their lord truly is as mad as a march hare if he thinks we'll bend over to his ludicrous demands!"

"Watch your tongue boy." The polite voice of Mokou dropped to a deadly hiss, the high pitch vanishing to be replaced by a hollow gravel.

Before anything more could be said however there was a sudden burst of sound.

***Clap***

It took half a heartbeat for everyone to realize none of them had struck their palms together.

It took another half a heartbeat for everyone to realize there was someone else sitting at the table who shouldn't be there.

All the Samurai drew their blades, the ninja doing the same with their kunai staring down the man in the black robe and the spiral mask.

Tobi clapped once, twice more, leaning back in a stone chair "We stand here gathered today to celebrate the union of these two great houses in a lasting peace. By lasting we mean as soon as convenience wears off and...oh...wait are we not at that part yet?"

"Who are you?" Onoki asked, hands hidden beneath his Kage robe as he stood...err...hopped down from his seated position.

"It doesn't matter who I am." Tobi answered, smirking behind the mask at the lack of recognition now that he was lacking the red clouds. "All that matters is what I can offer you."

Reaching into his robe he pulled out two simple vials filled with clear liquid. "Surely the ails of your leaders become the ails of the people. And so here I be, to offer you both a remedy, One for he who's fallen to insanity and one for he who's become so sickly."

He placed the vials on the table pushing them towards Iwa and Kumo respectively.

"My associate has made it clear these will heal your lords, madness and sickness gone. For a time...these will wear off. And they will dilute and become little more than water within a weeks time, not nearly enough time to determine what the formula is I assure you."

"Then..." Tsunade ventured carefully. "It was poison! You poisoned them?"

"_Not I_..." Tobi gasped. As though appalled by the accusation. "I'm innocent it was all my associate. He's been looking forward to this for a long time." Tobi said.

"Looking forward to what?" A asked.

Tobi ignored the samurai surrounding him, the ninja taking position to cut off any escape attempt. "To our payment for the real antidote."

He paused, single eye scanning over the others. One could almost feel the smile behind the veneer of the spiral mask.

"We want something very simple in exchange for these cures..." He raised a single hand, pointing straight ahead at the man sitting across from him.

The Daimyo of Hi no kuni.

"Him..." He chirped "...dead."

The tension that settled over the room became thick in an instant, the ten Samurai escorts marching forward to flank their lord as the Shinobi of Konoha abandoned their attack positions to settle on defensive ones. The only ones who didn't move were the ones standing guard over the frowning Naruto.

Hiyoshi, the Samurai general of Hi no kuni that had remained quiet up until that point sneered. "So...you seek to push Iwa and Kumo to destroy us? Are you too weak to do this yourself."

"Why get my own hands dirty when others have a duty to do it for me to save their lords.

A's fist smashed through the stone that made up the back rest of Tobi's chair, his lightning covered limb going straight through Tobi before most Shinobi in the room could even blink at the man.

The Raikage turned, the most fearsome snarl a human ever did make decorating his lips. "We won't be your puppets!"

Tobi gave a languid shrug, not having moved an inch even with the back of his chair gone, still holding that same leaning position. "Then your Daimyo will remain insane, to die once the people become fed up, and Iwa's will perish a slow death in sickness...who knows what will happen with their successors."

Suddenly, the leader of the Akatsuki stood up, waving cheerily at the glowering group. "Well now. Don't let me keep you from the bloodletting eh? This is gonna be so much fun!"

With the wave transforming into a circular motion of his whole arm, Tobi was soon swallowed into the black void of the spiral mask.

* * *

Forming into the world again, the Uchiha found himself staring into the placid smile of Tezai.

"Its done then?" The Gardener asked

Tobi nodded. "Yes. To threaten the Daimyo is clever. But it will not be enough to spur on a full conflict.

"You leave that to me." Tezai assured. "I have been setting the stage for this for a long while. Iwa, Kumo and their armies will soon be marching to war. Of that you can rest assured."

Tobi nodded. Tezai continuing to move the pieces for Konoha's destruction sat just fine with him.

He would have his hands full in all too short a while without stretching himself thin playing an active part of Konoha's downfall.

He needed to get to _Ame_.

* * *

It was well past midnight by the time Tsunade and general Hiyoshi agreed that it was safe to stop. A forced march through the plains of Otogakure in rice country had given way at last to the great forests of Konoha's woodland.

They were on the very edge of the border. But they were in friendly territory and that was enough to put them at some measure of ease.

"I want a perimeter set. Standard Wolf pattern trap array. Now."

"Yes Hokage-sama" two of the men chorused before they took to the trees carry out their assigned task.

"My lord please you must remain where my men can keep you safe. The Godaime heard Hiyoshi's voice behind her, telling her who was now approaching before she turned and bowed.

"Taeda-sama." She greeted with a bow.

"Tsunade-hime." His voice was serious, but surprisingly calm for a man who essentially just had a hit placed on his head with two countries after the prize. "Our course of action is simple from this point."

She looked up from her bow, waiting for him to speak.

"I will prepare my armies to defend Hi no kuni. In the meanwhile you must find whomever this masked man is."

She nodded. "The moment we find him, we can find the antidotes for Makesho of Iwa and Tsugeyori of Kumo ourselves."

Taeda nodded. "Yes. I'm sure I don't have to tell you we'll need your best on this.

"You'll have it."

* * *

At the edge of the camp Naruto sat, watching everyone. After that little display with Tobi he'd forgone his earlier plan. Not wanting to really risk an open fight where it would just make it easier for Iwa or Kumo to attack the Daimyo in the confusion.

As the chief source of funding for Konoha, anything that happened to him on Tsunade's watch would be disastrous for the village's economy at the very least.

He looked up at the sound of an approaching dog.

Smiling at one of the triplets the blond nuke nin held out his hand, happily petting the animal that proceeded to lick his cheek.

"Hey girl. What's up? You'd rather come with me than stay with boring old Hana-chan."

"Funny Uzumaki. And here I was gonna be nice and bring you some food."

Naruto looked up, smiling at the brunette who looked at the two guards at his side. "Is it allowed?"

One of them came forward, looking at the small plate in her hands. He poked at the food, making sure it was real before he plucked out the utensils. "Hope you're good at eating with your hands." He remarked before handing him the plate.

Naruto lifted his bound hands up, taking hold of the tin plate before he went to grab some and he realized the chain made it too awkward. Setting the plate down in his lap he finally dug in. Offering the two dogs some scraps as he finished them off.

Before he was fully done with his meal he looked up, staring at the waiting Hana. "Hey...Hana-chan."

"Hmm?"

"Could you bring Tsunade over?"

"You want me to go get Tsunade?" She questioned slowly. "As in...go interrupt her when she's having a discussion with the Daimyo and the leader of the Samurai forces?"

"Please?" He offered her a patented puppy eyed look. Those big blue eyes staring up at her imploringly. "I won't say you're boring anymore."

"Yes. That's incentive." She muttered drily.

Naruto's playful countenance vanished, genuinely pleading with the Inuzuka. "Please Hana-chan. This is important. Really."

Raising a slender eyebrow. Hana was unsure but eventually nodded. "I'm not promising anything." She warned before turning and marching off, her dogs staying behind.

"Thanks." He called after her.

"You guys get close or something as Kumo's guests?" One of his guards asked.

Naruto craned his neck to look up at the man. "Nah! I'm just a nice guy!"

"Never heard of a missing nin as a nice guy." The Anbu drawled.

Naruto sulked.

He hoped Hana would get back quick. But as the minutes wore on he fidgeted anxiously where he sat, going over the approaching conversation in his head when he got his second visitor of the day.

She'd been so quiet he hadn't even heard her until she was almost ontop of him.

He looked up to see the scowling face of Haruno-Sakura.

Naruto would have smiled at his one time friend and teammate but some instinct told him it'd be the wrong thing to do right now.

"Hi Sakura-chan." He offered instead.

"Three years...and that's what you say to me?" Her voice was a hiss and Naruto, for all the time's he'd heard her angry, this was one he knew to be a lot more serious than the times they were childred.

His face fell. He knew that Sakura's anger was because he'd left her alone. He himself hated being alone. He supposed it was too much to hope that she wouldn't be angry with him for putting her through that.

"I'm sorry." He offered instead.

She looked to the two guards at his side. "You two mind stepping back for a sec?"

The two looked at each-other before one responded. "Don't touch him." Then he took two steps back followed by his partner, they were still within earshot but it was enough to offer at least the pretense of privacy.

Sakura looked back down at him and after a second of her intense, baneful stare Naruto averted his eyes like a kicked puppy.

"Why did you leave?"

"I had to keep you all safe from Akatsuki." He answered looking back up at her. "They were after me. And they would have hurt you the same as they hurt Kakashi sensei! I couldn't let that happen so I left. You'd all be safer that- He trailed off

Her fists were clenched, her hands shaking, holding herself back from striking him. Green eyes as furious as ever.

"You're as selfish as Sasuke is."

Naruto's outrage was overshadowed by hers as she shouted over whatever he was going to say.

"We were supposed to be a team!" She howled. "We were supposed to help eachother! We were supposed to have eachothers back. But you and him just left to do your own goddamn thing!"

Naruto shifted, ready to stand when one of the guards stepped forward with a heavy hand on his shoulder, stopping him. "Sakura." He cried. "We couldn't have fought against them! None of us would have been strong enough to-"

"I don't care! We were a team! You both should have at least given that a chance before you-"

"Haruno!"

Sakura's mouth snapped shut, and she whirled around to see Tsunade making her way closer, the Inuzuka girl at her back.

Tsunade didn't shout, didn't posture or do much more than simply stand beside the pink haired girl.

Sakura bowed her head. "Hokage-sama."

"This isn't your teammate right now." She said. "This is a captured Nuke-nin. And you having a shouting match with him here is unbecoming."

"...Yes Hokage-sama."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow but gave it no further thought before turning to look at the contritely sitting Naruto. "Naruto." She said, her voice as hard as steel but the small smile of relief belying her happiness at finally being able to speak to him after all these years.

"Hey Baa-chan." He grinned weakly.

"Stand up please." She said, as much to him as to the guard holding him down.

Soon enough the Uzumaki was standing and she noticed now that he was just an inch shy of being eye level with her. A few more years and he'd be taller. She smiled.

"You look good...for a captured Nuke-nin."

Naruto grinned. "Yeah...about that...captured part...could we uhh...change that?"

Both her eyebrows shot into her hairline. "You're asking me...the Hokage of Konohagakure to just up and let you go?"

Naruto's smile was as strained as it was sad. "Baa-chan...you know its for the best."

"Who's best? Your best? Desertion is a crime punishable by death. This is a military village after all. If you weren't who you were you would be dead as it-"

"Its for your best." He argued. "You have a war to fight. You can't waste resources holding back Akatsuki too."

"I'll decide what resources we can waste Naruto."

"Baa-chan." He whined. "You know I'm right. Itachi, Kisame, Deidara, Sasori and who knows who else they have! These guys are all top list badasses and you know they'll be coming after me once they know you have me! They won't give me a chance to get away like I did before."

"Naruto I have a battle on two fronts to fight, against two opposing villages, both of which have two Jinchuuriki each-"

"Iwa only has one."

"and-What?"

"Iwa." He explained. "They only have one. Kisame got the Gobi. Or at least he implied as much to Bee!"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, filing that piece of information away for later. A missing Gobi Jinchuuriki was a good thing. "Either way Naruto I can't just let you go!"

"No one would know." He said gesturing with his hands. "You have twelve Samurai here and six ninja. They'll all keep the secret if you make them promise and-"

"Its not that-"

"It is that simple!" He pleaded. "Akatsuki can't come to the village Baa-chan you know I'm right! Itachi wiped out his whole clan in one night, just imagine what he could do with help from five or six people just as strong as he is!"

It was a scenario she couldn't deny would knock the village flat. And with the wolves now potentially closing in from Kumo and Iwa, Tsunade knew that Naruto's argument was a valid one.

Her lips thinned, pursing.

Sakura noticed her hesitation and spoke up. "Hokage-sama, you can't be considering-"

"Quiet..." For a while longer Tsunade stared at the blond man, almost willing him to reveal what was going on in that head of his with nothing but her gaze.

"You sure this is what you want Naruto?"

The blond paused, looking at Sakura a sad expression crossing his features. "No...but...its for the village. So I'll do it."

Tsunade's features never wavered. "You'll be listed as an A rank." She warned. "After what you've supposedly done in Kumo, we can't hide your strength. That means every hunter nin...from every village will be after you. You'll be considered an enemy of the country, same as any missing nin."

Naruto's smile was bittersweet. "You know I can take anything Baa-chan."

Tsunade took a deep breath. Then she looked at the two guards. "Let him go."

To their credit, the men only gave the briefest pause before one stepped forward, undoing the clamps with a burst of chakra from two fingertips.

Naruto rubbed his sore wrists as Tsunade asked for his things, the other guard unfurling his belongings from a sealing scroll and handing them to him.

The blond took hold of the weapon last smiling at Tsunade. "Thank's Baa-chan."

The sannin clasped her hands behind her back. "Try not to get yourself killed...brat."

Naruto nodded reaching down to pet the two dogs and stepping forward to offer, much to Hana's surprise, a hug. He turned to Sakura last. His smile vanishing at the sight of her green eyes burning like fires, fists clenched so hard the metal tang of her blood reached his nose as she ground her teeth.

It half looked like she was ready to attack him, the Godaime, the guards and half the people in the camp at that very moment.

He wasn't sure if he should speak. But in the end, decided he couldn't leave with, at the very least, a goodbye a second time. "Bye Sakura-chan."

With a single leap, the one time Konoha gennin landed on a branch, turning to look over his shoulder. "Hey...if you guys ever need some help-" He waved over his shoulder. "Just ask...and I'll be there. I promise!"

And with that he vanished into the trees.

Tsunade waited a moment longer before she spoke to the Shinobi around her. "Spread the word, Uzumaki Naruto has escaped custody. He is to be considered an A rank Nuke-nin."

* * *

It was a day later when Kushina gathered them. The spectral images of Itachi, Kisame and Jiraiya forming over the seals etched onto the floor.

Her face was grim. "Have you heard or not?"

Jiraiya's arms crossed. "My spied picked up something.

"We have not." Itachi intoned, speaking for himself and Kisame. "Perhaps you shouls enlighten us."

"Two days ago, Tsunade and the Daimyo moved for a summit to promote peace between Kumo and Iwa. Someone interfered and now, its very likely Kumo and Iwa will both be attacking Hi no kuni very soon."

Kisame let off a low whistle. "Damn. How the hell do you mess up a negotiation so badly you get the two pissed off parties to call off their fight to kick your ass."

"Someone interfered." Jiraiya cut in. "Someone in a spiral mask is holding the Daimyo of both Kumo and Iwa hostage and in order to ensure their safety he want's Taeda-sama dead."

"Who was it?" Itachi asked.

"No idea." Jiraiya shook his head. "Someone wearing a spiral mask."

Kushina looked at him. Itachi and Kisame turned to look at eachother.

"What did you say?" The Uzumaki asked.

"Someone in a spiral mask." He repeated before looking at Kisame and Itachi. "You two know something?"

"Yeah." The fish man answered. "Some new guy in the Akatsuki. Replaced Sasori. He wears a spiral mask."

"What's his name?" Kushina barked.

"Tobi. Or so he says." Kisame shrugged. "Don't know much about him other than that.

"Find out more!" She hissed before rounding on Jiraiya. "And you find out what's to be done with the Daimyo, I'll work on the others to keep tabs on Iwa and Kumo's movements for now. Tell Tsunade to send Naruto to me _immediately_!"

Before anyone could get a word in edgewise she cut the link, the three holographic images vanishing, leaving her alone in the room.

_The man in the spiral mask..._

* * *

The rains in Amegakure were particularly harsh today. Each individual raindrop was a lance of pure ice driving its point through his cloak and into his flesh as the wind battered against him with the full power of the perpetual storm that hovered over these lands.

It was almost a relief when he finally stepped into the building to see Pein's ringed eyes glaring at him.

"A man in a spiral mask makes an offer...and now all of Amegakure will know pain once more."

Tobi mentally cursed. That was quick. Did Pein have spies at the summit? Zetsu would know better than to report his activities to Nagato or Konan.

"This will make things easier."

"Not for Ame." Tobi looked up, finding Konan materializing with an inrush of paper, flying in through the window. She glared coldly down on him from where her paper wings held her aloft.

"For all of us." The Uchiha insisted. "Iwa and Kumo are the only ones who hold Bijuu now, inside the village walls, with the full force of their allies behind them they, especially Kumo's Kirabee, are all but untouchable. War will avert the Kage's eyes from their peacekeeping weapons and onto their campaigns. Leaving us to roam freely."

"Then _you_ will capture them." Pein spoke. "Konan and I will defend Amegakure...and kill all those that would pretend to make our home a battlefield for their wars once more."

Tobi frowned. Pein's power was something he was counting on for when they eventually moved against Kirabee, and perhaps the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki now too. He had spotted him with the Konoha delegation if he wasn't mistaken.

Nevertheless he shrugged. This was one battle he could wage later.

"Fair enough. Have Kakuzu and Hidan returned with the Nibi yet?"

"Kakuzu and Hidan are dead."

He blinked.

"...Surprising...I did not think the Nibi Jinchuuriki to be that powerful."

"It was not her...their slayer is...surprising considering what we knew of him once."

And out of his robe Pein produced a Bingo book.

* * *

"Nice!" The shout brought many curious looks to cross the eyes of the townspeople looking over to see a blond haired man smiling into a booklet.

_'Blond hair blue eyes, known for high endurance, evasion, proficient in close range combat, adept at ninjutsu and gen-'_

The blond frowned pulling out a pen and scribbling on his correction. _'Blond hair blue eyes, known for high endurance, evasion, proficient in close range combat, adept at ninjutsu and __**(very proficient at) **__genjutsu. Not to be engaged unless well prepared or holding a numerical advantage. Considred A rank to be captured on sight if possible. Lethal force is authorized._

_Alias: None.  
_

Naruto frowned again, flipping through the pages before he found Cyrus' old picture looking down at the man's alias.

"_The ghost of Iwagakure"_

"So alias is a cool nickname then." He nodded to himself deciding on his next goal.

* * *

Tsume blinked, staring stupidly at the piece of paper before looking up at her daughter. "Are you serious?"

Hana shrugged. "You joined once."

"Hana you're a vet." She deadpanned. "Outside of a few missions here and there you don't do combat missions what's brought on..." She held up the page. "This?"

The younger Inuzuka smiled. "Just thinking of getting some more experience under my belt."

Tsume looked at the page her lips making a strange sort of frown, almost incredulous but not quite. She seemed to shrug. "If you're sure. I won't stop you then."

She handed her daughter the paper. "I'll tell ya though. Training to become a hunter nin is its own special kind of hell."

Hana smirked. "I think I can manage."

* * *

Whelp. Here's the last chapter for the first installment. All these wonderful things have been set up for part two that I feel inclined to remind you my readers part 2 won't be out for a while yet. I have a Fate Stay Night story to finish along with the sequel to Shikon. Once those are done the second installment of this will be published.

Hope you enjoyed it Read and review (if you can I know this story has been marked as "already reviewed" by a few people so no worries if it can't happen.)

I'll see you all next time then. Bye for now.


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